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LABORATORY DIRECTIONS 

IN 

GENERAL ZOOLOGY 



By 

Winterton C. Curtis 

Professor of Zoology, University of Missouri 
and 

Gideon S. Dodds 

Asst. Professor of Histology and Embryology, 
West Virginia University 



AUGUST, 1919 



For Sale by the University Co-Operative Store 
Columbia, Missouri 



/ 



LABORATORY DIRECTIONS 

IN 

GENERAL ZOOLOGY 



By 

Winterton C. Curtis 

Professor of Zoology, University of Missouri 
and 

Gideon S. Dodds 

Asst. Professor of Histology and Embryology, 
West Virginia University 



AUGUST, 1919 



Tor Sale by the University Co-Operative Store 
Columbia, Missouri 









X^ V 



Copyright, 1919, by 
Winterton C. Curtis 



PRESS OF 

E. W. STEPHENS PUBLISHING COMPANY 

COLUMBIA. MISSOURI 



DEC 30 \W' 

©CU605161 



PREFACE 

The course in General Zoology, of which the work outlined 
by these directions constitutes a part, is in marked contrast 
to the "phylum" course, in which an extensive series of forms 
is examined, mainly with reference to their structural pe- 
culiarities. In the phylum course, each animal is considered, 
primarily, as a representative of the group to which it belongs. 
Its general biological aspects are regarded as incidental. Such 
a course is demanded in the later curriculum of students who 
go on in zoology. But we maintain that a course which con- 
sists principally of a survey of the animal kingdom, phylum 
by phylum, is not suited to the needs of such students as are 
destined for no further contact with zoological departments. 
It is often forgotten that the general course is not an intro- 
duction to zoology, in the sense that the student will be ex- 
pected to pursue the acquaintance. In the vast majority of 
cases, it is part of an introduction to human life. We are 
teaching future citizens and not future zoologists. Even where 
the student has some professional motivation, such as an in- 
terest in medicine or agriculture, the best introduction is a 
course taught from this "humanistic" standpoint. The hu- 
manistic ideal is the ideal of that which is worth while for 
man. Humanistic teaching is teaching in such a manner that 
the student "feels" the worthwhileness bf the subject matter. 
It is an attempt to create appreciation. Such an emphasis 
is far removed from the "economic" emphasis which attempts 
to stress the bread-and-butter facts, although these facts are 
part of the worthwhileness of the whole. Zoological science is 
filled to the brim with facts of human interest. When we 
teach zoology to human beings, who are destined never again 
to have contact with the zoological classroom, we should teach 
the zoological phenomena which bear the most intimate relation 

(in) 



iv Preface 

to human life. While not maintaining that the phylum course 
is incapable of accomplishing this result, we believe that such 
a course is, at best, only an indirect approach to the zoological 
subject matter which should be regarded as most important. 

With this humanistic point of view, the laboratory work of 
the course might be organized in a variety of ways. It might 
consist in the study of structures and functions, without much 
reference to the consideration of animals as organized units. 
It might consist of the intensive study of a single animal. The 
objection to the first of these plans is that it tends to weaken 
the conception of the animal as a unified individual. There 
is danger that the study of a piece at a time or a function at 
a time will obliterate the picture of the unified whole. The 
objection to the intensive study of a single animal is that no 
single form illustrates all the interesting biological phenomena 
which should find a place in the course in General Zoology. 
In our opinion, the must desirable plan is the study of a lim- 
ited number of forms which are particularly suited to illustrate 
the fundamental biological phenomena. Upon such a plan, 
these laboratory directions have been developed. 

The frog is chosen as the introductory type, because of its 
availability; and because it is, like man, a vertebrate. Th*» 
use of a vertebrate enables the student to utilize, at the out- 
set, the knowledge he may have concerning the structures and 
functions of his own body; and to further extend his knowl- 
edge by an application of the facts learned from the frog. In 
addition to their human application, the facts thus discovered 
become the observational basis for a study of the fundamental 
activities and functions of the animal body. Then follows a 
study of a limited number of unicellular forms, during which 
the student examines the various functions as performed by 
animals of minute size and essentially without organs. He 
thus becomes acquainted with biological phenomena reduced 
to their lowest terms; and learns that a given organ is not 
essential to the performance of a given function. Other fun- 
damental phenomena, which are well illustrated by the pro- 
tozoa, are considered in this connection. Following this, comes 



Preface v 

a study of the hydra, during which the relation between uni- 
cellular and multicellular forms receives consideration. This 
is followed by the study of one or more multicellular animals 
of greater complexity (earthworm, crayfish, or mussel), which 
shows the performance of the now familiar functions by organs 
of quite different type and adapted to a different environment. 
The grasshopper and other insects present examples of animals 
specialized in directions which are especially useful in teach- 
ing the facts of adaptation, behavior, and life-histories. The 
flatworms may be used in illustration of parasitism. The de- 
velopment of the frog, supplemented by that of the starfish 
and chick, constitutes the foundation for a discussion of re- 
production. The subject of genetics, including human evolu- 
tion, is considered without accompanying laboratory study. 
Thus at the close we come again to the intensely human as- 
pects of zoology. 

The textbook used by the authors of this manual, during 
their work together at the University of Missouri, was Parker 
and Parker's, "Practical Zoology". This text was regarded 
as inadequate, because so exclusively morphological in charac- 
ter. We know of no single volume which approximates the 
body of subject matter and the arrangement we would choose 
for this course. The senior author is now making a trial of 
an elementary book on human physiology and a textbook of 
zoology. For the year 1919-20, he has chosen the "Elements 
of Physiology", by Hough and Sedgwick; and the "General 
Zoology", by A. S. Pearse. The text on physiology furnishes 
subject matter which may be readily correlated with the lab- 
oratory work upon the frog and with the subject matter of the 
earlier lectures. The volume by Pearse, although presenting 
a phylum course developed from the ecological standpoint, 
emphasizes many of the humanistic aspects of zoology which 
we have featured in the past. Such a combination of texts 
we regard as workable although not ideal. 

It will be observed that the directions in this manual are 
given in a somewhat detailed and specific fashion. We have, 
in general, avoided the non-sentence style, in the belief that 



vi Preface 

college students need the maximum contact with the well- 
formed sentence, as a part of their education. In our ex- 
perience, freshmen and sophmores should have the training 
that goes with precision of direction and organization. We 
even maintain that there is something to be said for mere 
"learning to follow directions", if the student has never been 
trained to careful reading in matters of fact. On the side 
of technical procedure, the beginner must have rather com- 
plete direction. On the side of the interpretation of facts, the 
directions should be precise and definite, with avoidance of 
both cryptic statement and unnecessary explanation. As the 
present manual is the outcome of earlier printed editions, we 
have thoroughly tested its form and phraseology by use in our 
classes. 

A word may be added regarding the sources of these direc- 
tions. The present publication is a revision, made jointly by 
the two authors, of the "Laboratory Directions" published in 
1913 by the senior author. It is impossible to acknowledge in- 
dividually the many friendly criticisms and suggestions which 
have furnished material for the present work. This pamphlet 
is a temporary crystallization of the laboratory instruction in 
General Zoology at the University of Missouri. We are in- 
debted to all our colleagues and assistants, with whom the 
problems of the course have been a frequent subject of dis- 
cussion. We gratefully acknowledge the obligation. 

WINTERTON C. CURTIS 

GIDEON S. DODDS 

August, 1919 



CONTENTS. 

Pages 

Frog 1 

Use of Microscope 20 

Histology op Frog 24 

Amceba 32 

Euglena 34 

Paramecium 36 

Gregarina and Monocystis 39 

Yeast and Bacteria 41 

Hydra 44 

Obelia 48 

gonionemus 50 

Planaria 52 

Clinostomum 53 

T^nia 54 

Earthworm 57 

Locust 65 

Miscellaneous Insects 72 

Cell Df/ision, Maturation, and Fertilization 75 

Development of Echinoderms 77 

Development of the Frog 78 

Development of the Chick 93 

Crayfish 97 

Fresh-Water Mussel 107 



(vn) 



THE FROG 



PHYLUM, CHOEDATA. SUB-PHYLUM, VEETEBEATA. 
CLASS, AMPHIBIA 

I. EXTERNAL FEATURES 

Exercise 1. General Structure and Activities 

(a) The following directions apply particularly to the "leop- 
ard frog", Rana pipiens. They may, however, be used for 
any of the common species. Examine a preserved frog or one 
recently killed. Recognize anterior and posterior ends, dorsal 
and ventral surfaces, right and left sides. Notice the soft, 
slimy nature of the skin and the absence of hair, feathers, or 
scales. What is the relation of such a skin to the habitat of 
the frog? Is the frog adapted to life in dry places? Notice 
the distribution of color on the skin. Are the right and left 
sides colored alike; dorsal and ventral surfaces? Do you 
know of any other animals that are lighter colored under- 
neath? Why? Is the head of the frog sharply separated from 
the body? What is the use of the long, flexible neck in birds 
and mammals? What peculiar structure has the elephant to 
compensate for its short neck? Notice the mouth, the anus, 
the nostrils, and the eyes. Compare the eyelids with those of 
the human eye. Just posterior to the eye is the tympanic 
membrane or ear-drum. Compare the ear of the frog with 
your own. Notice that fore and hind limbs have the same 
general structure: that is, upper arm, forearm, wrist, and 
hand, corresponding to thigh, shin, ankle, and foot. Notice 
how this similar fundamental structure is modified for quite 
different purposes in the two pairs of limbs. Compare with 
the limbs of a human being. 

(i) 



2 The Frog 

(b) Study living frogs in water and on a solid surface. 
How is each pair of limbs adapted and used for locomotion (1) 
on land, (2) in water? Which of these modes of locomotion 
seems to be the primary one for the frog? Give your rea- 
sons. Compare structure and uses of the limbs in dog, ape, 
duck, and hen. Observe position of frog as it "floats" in 
the water. Is it a good position for a quick retreat to the 
bottom? Observe just how the frog makes this retreat when 
frightened. What is the position of the eyes and nostrils when 
the animal is floating? What is the use of this? Is the rest- 
ing position of the frog when out of water such as to enable 
it to make a quick escape from danger? On what must the 
frog depend for protection from other animals? Compare in 
this respect with deer, horse, bear, turtle, rattlesnake, and 
man. Is the frog well or poorly protected? Make a list of 
some of the more common means of protection which animals 
possess. 

(c) Place the animal in the dissecting pan dorsal side up, 
pinning out the fore and hind limbs with digits well spread. 
Have pencils carefully sharpened. Rule a faint line length- 
wise in the middle of a sheet of drawing paper and, using 
this to represent the median plane of the animal, show the bi- 
lateral symmetry. Draw on a scale of 1 as thus seen from 
the dorsal aspect. Measure all the distances accurately with 
ruler or compasses; and show all the parts, to which your 
attention has been called in the foregoing section, so far as 
they appear in this view. Finish the drawing in simple out- 
lines, without shading. Label thoroughly, making label lines 
with a ruler and arranging neatly the lines and the names to 
which they lead. The scale of a drawing is commonly indi- 
cated thus : x %, x 1, x 2, etc., as the case may be. 

II. THE MOUTH 

Exerciser. The Mouth Cavity 

(a) Open the mouth wide, cutting a little at the corners if 
necessary. Locate the teeth by rubbing with a finger. Are 
teeth found on both jaws? Which way do the teeth slant? 



The Frog 3 

Examine with handlens. Are they useful in chewing as are 
your own teeth? What. is their use? Observe two patches of 
teeth on roof of the mouth, the vomerine teeth, so called be- 
cause on a bone called the vomer. Close to the vomerine teeth 
are the internal nostrils. Pass a bristle through one nostril. 
Notice the swellings made by the eyes, and just back of them 
the Eustachian tubes, leading to the middle ears. Posteriorly, 
the mouth narrows into the oesophagus which leads to the 
stomach. Explore with handle of needle. Just ventral to 
the oesophagus is a raised area perforated by a vertical slit, 
the glottis, through which air enters the lungs. What is the 
course of air from the exterior to the lungs? Compare with 
the human body in this respect. Why is it that a man can 
breathe through either mouth or nose while the frog cannot 
breathe at all with its mouth open? How does the place of 
attachment of the tongue differ from that in man? How does 
the frog use its tongue? Make a drawing (x 2), showing the 
widely opened mouth as seen from in front. 

III. THE BODY CAVITY AND ITS ORGANS 
Exercise 3. The Body Wall 

(a) Fasten the frog, ventral side up, in a dissecting pan, 
by means of a pin thrust obliquely through each arm. With 
scissors, cut through the skin, but not the underlying muscles, 
along the mid-ventral line, from tip of jaw to posterior end of 
body. The skin is attached to the muscles only at certain 
places, and the space between contains a colorless fluid called 
lymph. Cut the skin outward, at right angles from the first 
cut, in* the region of the arms and again at the posterior end 
of the body; pin back the flaps. Notice the blood vessels of 
the skin; veins, conspicuous and dark colored; arteries, in- 
conspicuous and usually colorless. Why this difference ? Ex- 
amine with a lens. In a similar manner, arteries and veins 
are distributed throughout the body. Notice the muscles of 
the body wall. 

(b) Cut through the muscle layer, a little to one side of 



4 The Frog 

the median line, exposing the body cavity or ccelome. By cut- 
ting and reflecting the muscle layer, as with the skin, expose 
the viscera. In the region of the arms it will be necessary to 
cut through certain bones, the arrangement of which may be 
seen by reference to a prepared skeleton. In the following 
study of the viscera, the organs may be displaced and pushed 
aside as necessary, but not cut or removed until specific di- 
rections are given. In identifying the parts, work with care 
and do not injure organs that must be studied later. 

(c) If the animal is a female, the most conspicuous organs 
are likely to be the ovaries, containing many black-and-white 
eggs, which may largely fill the body cavity and obscure other 
organs. If you have a male animal, no ovaries are present, 
and the digestive organs are more prominent. Determine the 
sex of your specimen ; and in the following pages follow only 
those parts which apply to this sex. 

(d) If you have a male, omit this paragraph and go at 
once to the study of the digestive organs (Exercise 4). If 
you have a female, remove both ovaries as follows: Push 
aside and separate the right and left ovaries, and discover 
their shape and place of attachment. Now pick out both ova- 
ries, bit by bit with your forceps, being careful not to injure 
the other organs. Estimate the total number of eggs. The 
large black-and-white eggs are those which will be laid at 
the next breeding season. Can you discover smaller eggs by 
using the handlens? If every one of these eggs should live 
and produce a full grown frog, what about the rapidity with 
which the world would become stocked with frogs? In the 
female there are two oviducts which are long and much-coiled 
structures. These should not be confused with the intestine, 
which is somewhat similar in appearance. Do not remove these 
oviducts. 

Exercise 4. The Digestive Organs 

(e) At the very anterior end of the body cavity is the 
oesophagus, which lies dorsal to the three-lobed liver and which 
expands posteriorly into the stomach. If possible, push a 
needle handle from the mouth, through the oesophagus into 



The Frog 5 

the stomach. The stomach, passes into the small intestine, 
which consists of several coils, supported by the transparent, 
sheet-like mesentery. Notice the blood vessels in the mesen- 
tery. "What are the two functions of the mesentery? The 
small intestine suddenly expands into the large intestine or 
rectum, which terminates in the anus. The urinary bladder 
is a thin sac connected by a narrow neck to the ventral side 
of the digestive tract, at the extreme posterior end of the 
body cavity. The part of the tract between the bladder and 
the anus is the cloaca. It will be exposed in a later dissection. 

(f) The liver has already been identified. It secretes a 
green fluid, the bile or gall, which is stored in the gall bladder, 
a thin sac on the dorsal surface of the liver. The bile is dis- 
charged into the small intestine through the bile duct or gall 
duct which is .very small and will not be traced in this dissec- 
tion. The pancreas is an elongated, light-colored organ, lying 
between the stomach and the first part of the small intestine. 
It discharges pancreatic juice into the bile duct where the 
latter runs through the pancreas on its way to the intestine. 

(g) Unwind the small intestine, except in the region of 
the pancreas, by cutting the membranous mesentery; pin it 
out on the animal's right side, in a position to expose it for 
drawing. Notice the small, round, dark-red spleen within 
the mesentery. It is not a digestive organ. Expose the cloaca 
and bladder as follows': Examine a skeleton to see the form 
and position of the bone at the base of the hind legs; then 
with a scalpel, cut straight down through muscle and bone, in 
the mid-line of the body just back of the bladder and at the 
base of the legs. Do not cut too far and mutilate the bladder. 
Note carefully the shape and extent of the bladder, and free 
it from all attachments except where it connects with the 
cloaca, so that you may determine clearly the form of both" 
cloaca and bladder. Make a drawing (x 2 or 3), showing the 
entire digestive tract, from mouth to anus, together with its 
glands, the liver and pancreas. 



6 The Frog 

Exercise 5. Cross Section of Stomach 

(h) Remove the digestive organs in the following manner : 
Cut the stomach across near its anterior end and sever the 
small intestine just in front of the rectum. Remove the peri- 
cardium without injuring the heart which is to be left in place. 
Remove the digestive tract and the liver, but not the kidneys or 
other organs. 

(i) With a sharp scalpel, cut transverse sections of the 
stomach, place under water, and study the cut surfaces with 
a handlens. Identify the following layers : mucous membrane, 
a conspicuous layer lining the cavity; sub-mucosa, a thin, 
clear layer of varying thickness ; muscular layer, conspicuous 
and of uniform thickness; peritoneum, very thin and to be 
seen only where it is continued into the mesentery on the out- 
side. Make a sketch (x 5) of the section, showing the several 
layers. 

Exercise 6. Gastric Digestion 

(j) The conditions under which digestion occurs in the liv- 
ing animal may be duplicated to such a degree in experiments 
with non-living material that we can study the digestive proc- 
ess without recourse to the stomach of a living animal. Di- 
gestion of food may be carried on in test-tubes if the proper 
reagents are employed. The process- is more rapid at the 
temperature of the body, but goes on quite actively at room 
temperatures. 

(k) Label four test-tubes as follows: (1) distilled water; 
(2) distilled water, pepsin; (3) distilled water, hydrochloric 
acid; (4) distilled water, pepsin, hydrochloric acid. Put in 
each tube the proper amounts of the materials called for, as 
directed by the instructor. Put in each tube a small piece of 
some protein such as white of egg or fibrin. During the labora- 
tory period observe the tubes from time to time and note any 
changes which indicate that digestion is taking place. At 
the close of the period, set the tubes aside and again make ob- 
servations after twenty-four or forty-eight hours. Record your 
observations and the conclusions drawn from them in the 
form of a table as explained by the instructor. 



The Frog 7 

Exercise 7. Salivary Digestion 

(1) Test the action of saliva on starch as follows : Fill four 
test-tubes half full with starch paste. Test the tubes Nos. 1 
and 2 for the presence of (1) starch and (2) sugar. The in- 
structor will explain to the class how to make these tests. Add 
to the starch in tubes Nos. 3 and 4 some saliva from your 
mouth, shake up the tubes and let stand for five minutes then 
repeat the tests for starch and sugar as above. What are the 
results? What has been the effect of the saliva upon the 
starch? Record the procedure and results of the experiment 
in the form of a table. 

Exercise 8. The Absorption of Food 

(m) Food, while in the cavity of the digestive organs, is 
separated from the blood and lymph by the mucous membrane, 
which lines the digestive tract, and by the thin walls of the 
capillaries. The food must be absorbed through these mem- 
branes before it can be distributed by the circulatory system 
to all parts of the body. The mucous membrane and the 
walls of the blood and lymph vessels constitute a semi-permea- 
ble membrane, that is, one through which some substances will 
pass but not others. Some foods are in condition to be ab- 
sorbed when they enter the body ; others must be changed by 
digestion into substances which can pass through the mucous 
membrane and the walls of the blood vessels and lymphatics. 
Parchment and similar animal membranes, which are no longer 
alive, act as semi-permeable membranes, and may be used in 
the construction of a simple apparatus to demonstrate the dif- 
fusion or non-diffusion of the several food substances. A piece 
of the parchment is tied over the end of a good sized glass 
tube. Into this tube is put a solution of the food to be tested 
and the tube is then lowered into a larger vessel containing 
water. After some time, tests are made of the water in the 
outer vessel to determine whether any of the substance in the 
inner tube has passed out through the parchment membrane. 

(n) Such an apparatus will be constructed and demon- 
strated before the class and the tests to determine the presence 



8 The Frog 

of the substances used will be explained. In one experiment 
sugar is put in the inner tube. Do tests show that it finds 
its way through the membrane ? In another experiment, white 
of egg dissolved in water is put in the inner tube. Do tests 
show that any of this protein has passed through the mem- 
brane? Describe the apparatus, the materials used, the meth- 
od of procedure, and the results. Point out the parallel be- 
tween this experiment and the conditions in the digestive or- 
gans and draw conclusions. What facts may be cited against 
the physical process of dialysis or osmosis as a complete ex- 
planation of the absorption of food in the living animal ? 

Exercise 9. The Female Urino-Genital Organs 

(o) The ovaries have been recognized and removed. The 
two oviducts are very long and much coiled. The oviducts 
do not connect with the ovaries, but each, at its anterior end, 
opens into the body cavity, by a funnel-shaped opening. To 
see these it will be necessary to lift up the lungs, a pair of 
brownish, finger-shaped organs lying right and left of the 
oesophagus. Near its posterior end, each oviduct expands into 
a thin-walled sac, which opens into the cloaca on the dorsal 
side opposite the bladder. The thin, expanded portion of 
the oviduct is connected to the body wall, to the rectum, and 
to the other oviduct by the membranous peritoneum, which 
must be dissected away to show the real size and shape of 
this portion of the oviduct. The eggs break from the surfaces 
of the ovaries and are free within the body cavity, until they 
pass into the funnel-shaped ends of the oviducts. While within 
the oviducts, each egg is covered with a gelatinous substance, 
which swells upon contact with the water, and forms the 
" jelly " after the eggs have reached the outside by way of the 
cloaca and anus. 

(p) The kidneys are a pair of dark-colored, elongated or- 
gans attached to the dorsal body wall, and are partly concealed 
by the oviducts. Carefully remove the right oviduct to better 
expose the kidneys. The ureter is a very slender, light-col- 
ored duct which arises from the outer edge of either kidney 
near its posterior end and extends backward to the cloaca. Do 



The Frog 9 

not confuse the ureter with the several large, white nerves on 
the body wall dorsal to the ureters or with the large, dark- 
colored blood vessels which enter each kidney close to its 
ureter. The fat bodies are a pair of yellowish structures, with 
finger-like lobes, near the anterior end of the kidneys. They 
are a storehouse of reserve food and do not belong to either 
reproductive or excretory systems. The yellowish streak on 
the ventral surface of each kidney is the adrenal body, a gland 
which is not related to the excretory function of the kidney. 
Make a drawing (x 2) of the female urino-genital organs, the 
cloaca, and the bladder, as seen from the ventral aspect. It 
may be well to show only one of the oviducts. Indicate in 
this drawing the size and position of one ovary by a dotted 
outline. Now take up work at paragraph (s), Exercise 11. 

Exercise 10. The Male Urino-Genital Organs. 

(q) The kidneys are a pair of dark-colored, elongated or- 
gans attached to the dorsal body wall. The testes or sperm- 
aries, as they are also called, are a pair of small elongated 
bodies suspended from the anterior end of the kidneys. The 
thin, mesentery-like fold of peritoneum which supports each 
testis is called a mesorchium. The fat bodies are a pair of 
yellowish structures with finger-like lobes, near the anterior 
end of the kidneys. They are not part of the reproductive or 
excretory systems, but a storehouse of reserve food. 

(r) Running along the outer margin of each kidney is a 
slender, coiled structure, the rudimentary oviduct, correspond- 
ing to the oviduct of the female, but not functional in the 
male. These rudimentary oviducts connect with the dorsal side 
of the cloaca opposite to the place of attachment of the blad- 
der in the same manner as the functional oviducts of the fe- 
male. The ureter is a slender, light-colored duct which arises 
from the outer edge of either kidney near its posterior end. 
Do not confuse the ureters with several large, white nerve 
cords on the body wall dorsal to the ureters or with a large, 
dark-colored blood vessel which enters either kidney close to 
its ureter. The yellowish streak on the ventral surface of 
each kidney is the adrenal body, a gland which is not related 



10 The Frog 

to the excretory function of the kidney. The testes discharge 
their seminal fluid through the vasa efferentia, several very 
slender ducts which can perhaps be seen, along with Mood 
vessels, running through the mesorchium to the kidney. These 
connect, inside the kidney, with the ureter, through which the 
seminal fluid reaches the cloaca. Make a drawing (x 2) of 
the male urino-genital organs, the cloaca and the bladder, as 
seen from the ventral aspect. 

Exercise 11. The Blood Vessels of the Kidneys 

(s) Three sets of blood vessels connect with the kidneys : 
(1) Blood leaves the kidneys through the post caval vein, 
which runs forward to the heart, but which has been cut off, at 
about the level of the fat bodies, in the removal of the liver. 
Find its stump and determine its outline between the kidneys. 
It receives several pairs of renal veins from the ventral sur- 
face of the kidneys. How does it end posteriorly? (2) Blood 
enters the kidneys through the renal portal veins. One of 
these arises in each leg and enters the kidney at its lateral 
margin just anterior to the origin of the ureter. (3) Blood al- 
so enters the kidneys from the dorsal aorta, through renal 
arteries. The dorsal aorta runs along the mid-line of the 
body just dorsal to the kidneys, as may be seen by lifting 
up the outer edge of one kidney. How does the dorsal aorta 
originate anteriorly and how does it end posteriorly? An 
iliac artery will be observed going to either leg. Make a draw- 
ing (x 4) of the kidneys and their blood vessels as seen from 
the ventral side. Use arrows to show direction of blood 
flow, and spread the kidneys sufficiently to show, without con- 
fusion, the post cava, etc. 

Exercise 12. Study of Dorsal Side of Kidneys 

(t) Being careful to keep all the parts intact, remove the 
urino-genitals, their blood vessels, and the cloaca in the fol- 
lowing manner: Dissect the anus and cloaca free from the 
surrounding structures. Cut the renal-portal veins and the 
iliac arteries. Also cut the dorsal aorta in front of the kid- 



The Frog 11 

neys. With forceps, lift up the cloaca, and working forward, 
dissect the organs free from the body wall as you go, thus re- 
moving the urino-genital organs and that part of the dorsal 
aorta which is attached to the kidneys by the renal arteries. 
Place the removed organs under water and study them to de- 
termine any points not clear from your former study of the 
urino-genital system (Exercise 9 or 10). Also make necessary 
additions or corrections in your drawings of the blood ves- 
sels. Make a drawing (x 4) of the dorsal surface of the kid- 
neys, showing especially their relations to the renal-portal 
veins and to. the dorsal aorta. Use arrows to indicate direc- 
tion of flow of blood. 

IV. THE CIRCULATORY SYSTEM 
Exercise 13. The Heart and Larger Blood Vessels 

(a) Carefully remove any remaining portions of the peri- 
cardium, the thin membrane surrounding the heart. The 
heart consists of three chambers : the ventricle, a thick-walled, 
conical portion; and in front of this the right and left auri- 
cles, which are thin-walled and which lie on either side of a 
single large vessel, the truncus arteriosus, which passes diag- 
onally forward from the ventricle. 

(b) Blood enters the heart from the body, by way ot 
the sinus venosus, which may be seen by lifting up the tip of 
the ventricle. It is a thin- walled structure formed by the 
union of three veins: the two precaval veins entering latei- 
ally and coming from the anterior part of the body; and the 
post caval vein, already recognized. The post caval vein, and 
perhaps the sinus venosus were removed along with the liver, 
but the opening from the sinus venosus into the right auricle 
may still be seen. Blood enters the heart from the lungs by 
way of the pulmonary veins, which open into the left auricle, 
but cannot be seen in this dissection. Make a drawing to il- 
lustrate these principal veins of the frog, piecing it out from 
this dissection and from the study of the blood vessels of 
the kidneys. 



12 The Frog 

(c) Blood leaves the heart through the truncus arteriosus, 
a large vessel which arises from the right side of the ventricle, 
runs obliquely forward over the ventral surface of the auri- 
cles, and then divides into right and left branches. At about 
one-fourth inch from its origin, each branch of the truncus 
arteriosus divides into three parts : (1) an anterior branch, 
the carotid artery, which goes to the head; (2) a posterior 
one, the pulmo-cutaneous artery, which leads to the lung, after 
sending a branch to the skin; (3) a larger, central branch, 
the systemic artery, which runs first in a dorsal, and then in 
a posterior direction, until it unites with the corresponding 
vessel from the other side to form the dorsal aorta. At the 
place of union of these two vessels, there is given off a large 
branch, the cceliaco-mesenteric artery, which runs through the 
mesentery to the digestive organs. A subclavian artery arises 
from either systemic. It will be most easily seen where it 
passes to the arm, along with a conspicuous, white nerve. 
When thus identified, it may be traced back to its origin from 
the systemic. Make a drawing (x 5) of the heart, as seen 
from the ventral side, together with as many of the arteries as 
can be made out, including the part of the dorsal aorta re- 
moved with the kidneys, and the stumps of the iliac arteries. 

Exercise 14. The Capillaries 

(d) Examine a demonstration of the circulation of the 
blood through the capillaries in the web of a frog's foot. Is 
there any pulse? How can you distinguish arteries, capilla- 
ries and veins? What is the relative size of the blood corpus- 
cles and the smallest vessels? Capillaries like these exist 
throughout the body of the vertebrate animal. Understand 
their significance in relation to the process of waste, repair, 
and growth. 

V. THE RESPIRATORY ORGANS 

Exercise 15. Lungs and Air Passages 

(a) Remove the heart, being careful not to injure the 
lungs. Carefully clean off the area between the bases of the 



The Frog 13 

lungs and expose the semi-transparent floor of the larynx, the 
passage which leads to the lungs from the mouth. Probe 
through the glottis with closed forceps and observe the points 
of the instrument through the floor of the larynx. 

(b) Remove the oesophagus, lungs, floor of mouth, and 
lower jaw, by lifting up the end of the oesophagus where it was 
cut from the stomach, carefully cutting the attaching struc- 
tures as you pull, and cutting at the corners of the mouth as 
necessary. "With scissors, separate the removed piece into 
right and left halves by a cut exactly along the mid-line and 
passing through the glottis. Observe the size and shape of 
the larynx as seen from the inside, and find the openings into 
the lungs. The vocal cords are ribbon-like structures attached 
to the side walls of the larynx. How do they function? Com- 
pare this dissection with "half -frogs" prepared by the in- 
structor. Make an outline (x 3) of the head and anterior 
part of the body of a half-frog, as viewed from the cut side. 
Add to this outline the mouth cavity, the beginning of the 
oesophagus, the larynx, and the lungs, as they appear in such 
a section. Include also all features of the mouth as identified 
in Exercise 2. 

(c) Watch a living frog under a bell- jar. Time the res- 
piratory movements of nostrils, floor of mouth, and sides 
of body. How does the method of inhaling and exhaling air 
differ from that in the human body? Make comparisons: (1) 
with the drawing of ^ air in and out of a pipette; and (2) 
with the "pumping up" of a tire. 

VI. THE NERVOUS SYSTEM AND SENSE-ORGANS 

Exercise 16. The Spinal Nerves 

(a) On the dorsal wall of the body cavity, the spinal 
nerves are now exposed as whitish cords running outwards 
from the sides of the spinal column. They arise from the 
spinal cord, within this bony protection, and emerge in pairs 
between the vertebrae, as may be seen by reference to a 
skeleton. Surrounding the base of each nerve, where it 
emerges between the vertebrae, is a light-colored mass, the 



14 The Fkog 

periganglionic gland. There are ten pairs of spinal nerves 
designated by numbers beginning anteriorly : The large nerves, 
previously seen in the examination of the subclavian artery, 
are the II pair. Trace one of them as far as you can, laying 
open the muscles of the arm as necessary. The I nerve is a 
small one just in front of the II. It sends a branch to the II. 
The III is a small nerve which comes close to the II, sending 
off a communicating branch. These unions between the first 
three nerves comprise what is known as the brachial plexus. 
The IV, V, and VI are very slender nerves and run obliquely 
outward over the muscles of the back. What region do they 
seem to supply? The VII, VIII, and IX are larger and run 
almost directly backwards. They have various communicating 
branches which form a network, called the sciatic plexus, as 
a continuation of which we have the sciatic nerve running to 
the leg. Follow in one leg as far as you can, noticing the 
blood vessels which accompany the nerve. The X nerve is 
small, and may be hard to find. It comes out though an open- 
ing in the urostyle, the elongated bone which terminates the 
spinal column, and runs almost directly backward to supply 
the bladder and cloaca. Why are some of the spinal nerves 
larger than others? Why are there "switch" connections be- 
tween the nerves of the brachial and of the lumbar regions? 
Make a drawing (x 2) of the spinal nerves, representing ac- 
curately their courses and relative sizes. It may be well to 
show, in outline, the form of the central portions of the back- 
bone. 

Exercise 17. The Ear 

(b) Remove the skin from the ear as follows : Make a 
"V" shaped incision in the skin with the point just in front 
of the ear and the sides of the "V" passing above and be- 
low it. Hold the skin at the point of the "V" with forceps 
and strip it backwards, exposing a circular area, still covered 
with a delicate tympanic membrane which is thickened at the 
centre. Cut through this membrane, avoiding the thickened 
centre, and thus lay open the cavity of the middle ear, which 



The Frog 15 

connects with the mouth by the Eustachian tube. What is 
the function of the Eustachian tube? Have you a similar 
structure? Demonstrate its relation to ear-drum in the hu- 
man body by holding the nose, closing the mouth, and exhal- 
ing. Notice the columella of the ear, a slender rod of bone, ex- 
tending upward and inward from the thickened centre of 
the membrane to the skull. The function of this is to carry 
sound waves across the middle ear from the tympanic mem- 
brane to the nerve endings in the inner ear. The inner ear 
is embedded in the bone of the skull and is hard to dissect. 

Exercise 18. The Eye 

(c) Remove the skin from the dorsal side of the head. Re- 
move the eyeball, noticing the muscles by which it is attached 
to its socket. What is their function in the frog's and in 
your own eye? The optic nerve may be recognized entering 
the back of the eyeball among the muscles. The tough whit- 
ish covering on the back of the eyeball is the sclera, and is 
continuous with the transparent cornea in front. Notice the 
iris perforated by the pupil. What is the use of the iris? 
With scissors, open the eyeball by a cut from front to back. 
Study under water. The lens is just back of the iris and at- 
tached to it. It separates the cavity of the eyeball into two 
parts : an outer cavity filled with the aqueous humor ; and 
an inner cavity filled with the vitreous humor. The back of 
the eyeball is made up of three layers : the sclera on the out- 
side; the dark colored choroid; the grayish retina. The 
retina is the sensitive part of the eye where the optic nerve 
terminates. The other parts of the eye are devices to pro- 
tect the retina and to transmit the light rays to it in the form 
of a sharp image. Make a large drawing of the eyeball as 
now opened. After making this drawing, remove the lens, 
lay it on the printing of your book, and observe the result. 

Exercise 19. The Central Nervous System 

(d) Cut off the fore limbs close to the body, and the 
hind limbs by cutting across the trunk at the "waist" line. 
Tie the four limbs together and put away for a subsequent 



16 The Fbog 

study of the muscles. The following dissection will be more 
readily made if the head and trunk are held in one hand and 
the flesh pared or cut away with the scalpel or scissors. Remove 
the skin and muscles from the back, exposing the vertebrae 
and the skull. Remove also the other eye. With scalpel, shave 
away the thin bone of the roof of the skull between the eye 
sockets and expose the brain. It will be found covered with 
a very thin, dark colored, membrane, upon removal of which, 
the whitish brain will be seen. Notice the large blood ves- 
sels running over the surface of the brain and continued pos- 
teriorly over the spinal cord. Continue the dissection, work- 
ing backward until the entire brain and spinal cord have been 
exposed. What is the importance of the large blood supply 
to the central nervous system? What is the result if the 
the blood supply of the human brain is cut off or largely di- 
minished ? 

(e) There are five main divisions of the brain of the frog 
as follows, being at the anterior end : (1) the cerebrum or cere- 
bral hemispheres, a pair of elongated, nearly cylindrical struc- 
tures, from the anterior ends of which the olfactory lobes 
are indistinctly separated: (2) the diencephalon, a short, nar- 
row, depressed area; (3) the optic lobes, a pair of promi- 
nent rounded bodies ; (4) the cerebellum, a narrow transverse 
ridge just back of the optic lobes; (5) the medulla oblongata, 
which gradually tapers into the spinal cord. On the dorsal 
surface of the medulla is a brownish, triangular mass, the 
choroid plexus; or if this has been removed, a triangular de- 
pression, the fourth ventricle, is exposed. 

(f) From the brain there arise ten pairs of nerves, the 
cranial nerves, comparable to the spinal nerves which arise 
from the spinal cord. In the frog most of these are too small 
to be seen in this form of dissection, but certain ones may 
be recognized: The first pair, the olfactory nerves, can be 
exposed by paring away the bone immediately in front of 
the olfactory lobes. They are short nerves running to the 
nasal cavities. If not destroyed in the dissection of the eyes, 
the second or optic nerves may be seen by pressing the brain to 
one side. They arise from the ventral side of the brain. The 



The Frog 17 

fifth or trigeminal nerves, which arise from the anterior end of 
the medulla at the side and run to the face, may be recog- 
nized; also the eighth or auditory nerves, which arise at 
about the same place as the fifth and run to the ear. 

(g) Push aside the spinal cord and find the roots of the 
spinal nerves, studied in Exercise 16. Carefully remove the 
brain and spinal cord from the animal and study under water, 
examining it from its dorsal, ventral, and lateral aspects. The 
two enlarged places on the cord are the brachial and lum- 
bar enlargements. To what groups of spinal nerves do they 
correspond? Draw the brain and spinal cord (x 3) as seen 
from the dorsal side, including the stumps of such cranial and 
spinal nerves as have been -clearly seen. 

(h) Cut away the dorsal surface of the brain and expose the 
cavities or ventricles of the brain. These are all connected 
with each other and with the central canal which runs the 
length of the spinal cord. They are found in the brains of all 
vertebrates and contain a fluid, the cerebro-spinal fluid. 

Exercise 20. Experiments on the Functions of Different 
Parts of the Central Nervous System 

(i) Watch the demonstrations with frogs which have had 
successively destroyed: (1) the cerebral hemispheres and di- 
encephalon; (2) the entire brain; and (3) the entire brain 
and the spinal cord. "Write out your observations on the be- 
havior of the frog when thus deprived of portions of its nerv- 
ous system; and your conclusions regarding the functions of 
the several parts of the central nervous system. What seems 
to be the importance of "intelligent" acts in the daily exist- 
ence of the frog? 

Exercise 2L Muscle and Nerve 

(j) Watch the demonstrations of muscular contraction in 
the removed gastrocnemius muscle and its nerve, and write out 
your conclusions regarding (1) the nature of the control over 
the muscle which is exercised by the nervous system, and (2) 
the kind of stimuli which affect muscles and nerves. Ob- 
serve also the action of a heart that has been removed from 



18 The Frog 

the body of a frog or turtle, and write out a statement of 
the meaning of "death" in the light of these facts. 

VII. THE SKELETON AND MUSCLES 

Exercise 22. The Skeleton 

(a) Study mounted skeletons. Identify the major parts 
and learn the names of the chief bones by reference to the list 
given below. Compare the skeleton of the frog with that of 
man. How do the several parts correspond and how are they 
modified to suit the life each animal leads? Make a 
sketch of the skeleton from the dorsal side, showing as many 
of the bones as possible. The bones of the skeleton may be 
classified as follows: 

I. Axial Skeleton 

The skull includes : the cranium or brain case and the 
bones of the face and jaws. 

The vertebral column is composed of nine vertebrae and 
an elongated urostyle. The first vertebra is the atlas 
and has no transverse processes, as have the others. 
The ninth is the sacrum, to which the hip girdle is at- 
tached. 

II. Appendicular Skeleton 

The shoulder girdle includes: the sternum and epis- 
ternum, which together constitute the breast bone; the 
clavicle or collar bone ; the coracoid, a large bone just 
back of the clavicle ; and the scapula (bone) and su- 
prascapula (cartilage), which together constitute the 
shoulder blade. 

The hip girdle, which is also called the pelvic girdle or 
the innominate bone, is represented in the frog by a "V" 
shaped bone formed by the fusion of three, paired bones 
the ilium, ischium and pubis of the two sides of the 
body. The hip girdle is attached to the sacrum. 



The Frog 19 

The Bones of Arm The Bones of the Leg 
Humerus (upper arm) Femur (thigh) 

Badio-ulna (forearm) Tibio-fibula (shin) 

Carpus (wrist), six small Tarsus (ankle), two long 

bones bones and several small 

ones 
Metacarpus (hand) Metatarsus (foot) 

Phalanges (fingers) Phalanges (toes) 

Exercise 23. The Muscles 

(b) Remove the skin from an uninjured hind leg. The 
flesh is now seen to be made up of a considerable number of 
muscles, which may be readily separated from each other by 
using fingers and forceps. These muscles fall mostly into 
two classes: the flexors, which bend a joint, and the exten- 
sors, which straighten it. Each muscle has a thickened mid- 
dle portion, the belly, and tapers toward the ends, to which 
are attached the tendons by which it connects with the bones. 

(c) Study the gastrocnemius, the large muscle in the calf 
of the leg. To what bones is it attached at either end? The 
large tendon at its lower end is the tendon of Achilles. Com- 
pare with the same tendon in man and other animals. By 
moving the joints, determine the relation of this muscle to 
movements of knee and ankle. Does it serve as flexor or as 
extensor to these joints? Look on the front of the leg for 
muscles which "oppose" the action of the gastrocnemius in 
the ankle region. Observe the two sets of muscles in the thigh. 
To what bones are they attached at either end? What mus- 
cles are brought into play when the frog suddenly straight- 
ens the leg, as in jumping or swimming? Remove the muscles 
of the thigh, noticing their attachments and their mechanical 
possibilities. Make a diagrammatic drawing (x 2), showing 
the relation of the gastrocnemius muscle to the bones of the 
leg; indicate in the diagram or in writing the motions pro- 
duced by its contraction. 



20 The Miceoscope 

Exercise 24. Joints 

(d) Remove the muscles from the hip-joint. The joint is 
not at once exposed, as it is covered by a thin, tough mem- 
brane, the capsular ligament. This ligament attaches the 
femur to the hip-bone and also encloses a cavity in the joint, 
the synovial cavity, containing a small amount of fluid, the 
synovial fluid, which serves to lubricate the joint. Cut through 
this ligament and expose the head of the femur. Notice how 
it fits into its socket. In what directions can such a joint 
move? Study the knee-joint in like manner. How does it 
differ from the hip-joint. This is a hinge-joint; the hip- 
joint is a ball-and-socket joint. 

VIII. THE USE OF MICROSCOPE 
Exercise 25. The Parts of the Microscope 

(a) Before attempting to use the compound microscope, 
one must know the parts of the instrument and their uses. The 
preliminary work will, therefore, be directed toward practice 
rather than detailed study of the objects examined. As the 
microscope is an expensive instrument and one of delicate con 
struction, it must be handled with care, and should always be 
kept clean. 

(b) The object to be studied is placed on a glass slide, 
which is laid upon the stage of the microscope. The slide is 
then moved until the object is over the hole in the center of 
the stage. Light from a window is reflected through the ob- 
ject by means of the movable mirror. The observer looks at 
the object through the tube which has lenses in each end. 
The upper lens or eyepiece slips into the end of the tube near 
the eye. The objectives are lenses attached to the lower end 
of the tube. There are two objectives, low power and high 
power, one of which magnifies about five times as much as the 
other. The objectives are attached to a rotating nosepiece, 
by means of which it is easy to change from one to another. 
Learn to distinguish the "high" and "low" objectives in 
your instrument, also the high and low eyepieces if your 






The Mickoscope 21 

equipment includes more than one. The instrument may be 
focused by means of two different adjustments: the coarse 
adjustment and the fine adjustment. Try these and see how they 
work. The size of the opening in the stage may be changed 
by means of an iris diaphragm, so that the amount of light 
may be varied to suit the needs of the object. Some micro- 
scropes also have a set of lenses under the stage, forming the 
condenser, a device for giving a stronger illumination. 

(c) The surfaces of the lenses must be kept clean, as a 
very small amount of dirt is sufficient to very greatly decrease 
the clearness of the image. Even finger prints upon the lenses 
often interfere with the distinct view of the object examined. 
Use only the lens paper for cleaning the lenses, and if it seems 
necessary to unscrew the parts of eyepieces or objectives call 
for the instructor. 

Exercise 26. The Use of the Microscope 

(d) Clean a slide and coverglass. Place on the slide a 
small piece of paper cut from a printed page having small let- 
ters and smooth paper. "Wet with a drop of water by means 
of a medicine dropper or pippette, and place the coverglass up- 
on the piece of paper. There should be sufficient water to 
fill the space between the slide and cover, and bubbles of air 
should not be imprisoned under the cover. It is well to lower 
the cover with forceps, one edge first, in order to drive out 
the air. 

(e) Have the low power objective in position and a half 
inch or less above the stage. Place the preparation on the 
stage and illuminate it properly by moving the mirror into the 
best position. This can be readily done by looking down the 
tube after removing the eyepiece. When the light is thus 
"found", insert the eyepiece and look into the tube with the 
left eye while the right eye is kept open. The circular area 
which is now seen is the field of the microscope. While thus 
looking down the tube, focus on one of the letters by raising 
the tube with the coarse adjustment and then securing a more 
delicate focus by use of the fine adjustment. Adjust the iris 



22 The Microscope 

diaphragm, by opening or closing, so that the best results are 
obtained. Notice that the image is inverted. Move the slide 
about on the stage while looking down the tube until you learn 
how to move it in any direction you wish and are able to place 
any desired part of it in the centre of the field. Make an out- 
line of the letter the size it appears to you. 

(f) The drawings made by different students will vary 
greatly in size because they imagine the letter to be at differ- 
ent distances from the eye. To secure uniformity in this 
respect, imagine that the image is at the level of the table, the 
place where the drawing is to be made. Lay a pencil on the 
table close to the base of the microscope on the right side and 
measure off on the pencil a distance equal to the entire di- 
ameter of the circular field. Measure" the letter in a similar 
manner and compare with the size in your figure. Is the let- 
ter larger or smaller than you thought it was? It is desirable 
to use this method of measuring sizes in subsequent work 
with the microscope in order that you may attain uniformity 
in the scale of drawings. 

(g) To study the preparation with high power proceed as 
follows : Pick out the part of the preparation you wish to ex- 
amine ; then by moving the slide, place it exactly in the mid- 
dle of the field of the low power and focus on it sharply. Now, 
without moving the microscope, rotate the nosepiece until 
the high objective comes into place. The object will be more 
or less in focus according to the adjustment of the particular 
instrument. Bring the object into focus under the high ob- 
jective by using the fine adjustment only. Use care in this 
operation, because lens and coverglass come close together 
and they must not be allowed to touch. When the object is 
in focus it will be necessary to open the iris a little to get 
the best results. Make the change from low 'to high power 
repeatedly, until you can do it easily and quickly. This is a 
troublesome operation for a beginner. If it is mastered at 
the outset, the subsequent work is much easier. 

(h) Notice the appearance of the ink of the printed letter 
and the fibres of the paper. How can you tell whether one 



The Microscope 23 

fibre is above or below another? How much of the letter is 
included in the field of the microscope? Draw circles on the 
sketch of the letter to show the part included by the field of 
the high objective: (1) with the low eyepiece; (2) with 
the high eyepiece. Practice moving the letter about, bringing 
successive parts to the center of the field. How far is it 
necessary to turn the fine adjustment to throw the letter com- 
pletely out of focus? Which way do you turn the fine ad- 
justment to move the tube up or down? 

Exercise 27. The Measurement of Objects Studied with the 
Microscope 

(i) Take a small bit of paper cut from a sheet ruled into 
millimeters. Mount in water and cover as with the letters in 
(d). By using the pencil and your finger as before, lay off on 
a sheet of paper the length of a single millimeter as seen: (1) 
with the low objective and low eyepiece; and (2) with the 
low objective and high eyepiece. Make several measurements, 
until you secure a reasonable degree of uniformity. Compare 
your own results with those of your neighbors. Take an en- 
tire sheet of the millimeter paper and lay off two squares : (1) 
representing the size of a millimeter as magnified by the low 
objective and the low eyepiece; and (2) as magnified by the 
low objective and high eyepiece. After completing the two 
squares, determine the number of diameters the millimeter is 
magnified in each case; and record on the proper square to- 
gether with the combination of lenses. 

(j) Examine the bit of millimeter paper under the high 
objective and low eyepiece. The actual field is now less than 
one millimeter in diameter. To measure the fraction of a milli- 
meter which this field represents : Move the slide so that one 
edge of the field coincides with one of the ruled lines ; notice a 
fibre of the paper which is conspicuous and which coincides 
with the opposite side of the field; move the slide until this 
fibre reaches the side which was first occupied by the line; 
and repeat this operation until the edge of the field reaches 
the next ruled line. When you have established the size of 



24 Histology 

the field in terms of the millimeter, add to the sheet of milli- 
meter paper a line representing the magnified length of one 
millimeter as seen under this combination of lenses. Deter- 
mination of the magnification with the high objective and the 
high eyepiece will not be attempted. It is impossible with the 
paper. It is, however, easily made by the use of a stage- 
micrometer, an instrument which consists of a glass slide hav- 
ing one or more millimeters and their subdivisions ruled 
thereon. In the method you have employed, the bit of milli- 
meter paper has been used as a stage-micrometer. 

(k) Preserve the sheet of millimeter paper as a record. 
Now or later a measuring stick for microscopic objects may be 
made by laying off, upon a strip of cardboard, the millimeters 
as magnified b}^ each combination of lenses. Objects seen at 
any subsequent time may be projected upon a sheet of paper 
close to the stand, and the cardboard measuring stick used in 
place of the pencil. With a little practice, any object which 
occupies a substantial part of the field, may thus be measured 
with a surprising degree of accuracy. 

IX. HISTOLOGY OF THE FROG 

ISOLATED TISSUES 

Exercise 28. Squamous Epithelium from the Frog 

(a) The outermost layer of the frog's skin may be seen 
"sloughing off" when living frogs are confined in a small 
aquarium of clear water or it may be obtained from the liquid 
in a jar of preserved specimens. The outer layer of your 
own skin is continually sloughing off in a similar manner, ex- 
cept that it falls away in microscopic particles. Examine a 
bit of this material from the frog, placing it on a slide in a 
drop of water. Spread out the filmy mass without tearing; 
add a cover; and study first, with low, and then with high 
power. Notice the cells, each with a distinct nucleus sur- 
rounded by cytoplasm. There may be more than one layer of 
these cells. These cells in the preparation are only the outer 



Histology 25 

part of the skin of the frog. The entire skin is much thicker 
than this and will be studied in a future exercise. What do you 
conclude regarding the relative thickness of these cells as 
compared with their length and breadth? Measure the size 
of one of these cells by using the scale made upon the mm. 
paper. Make an accurate drawing of a few of the cells, pick- 
ing out a typical place and drawing the cells exactly as they ap- 
pear. Size of drawing at least one inch for diameter of each 
cell. Record the actual size of the cells as above measured. 

Exercise 29. Squamous Epithelium Cells from the Human 
Mouth 

(b) After cleaning a blunt edge such as the handle of scal- 
pel or forceps, scrape the inside of the cheek, and mount the 
material thus obtained in a drop of saliva. Before covering, 
scrape away as many of the bubbles as possible. In this way 
cells will be obtained which are very similar to those studied 
above, but are separated from each other. Find cells seen from 
different views, so that you may convince yourself that they 
are really flat. Draw isolated cells, as seen from edge and 
from flat surface. Size at least one inch in diameter. 

Exercise 30. Columnar Epithelium from the Frog's Intes- 
tine 

(c) Examine, in a drop of the alcohol, a bit of the frog's in- 
testine which has been cut from a fresh specimen and soaked 
for twelve or fifteen hours in 30 per cent alcohol, a treat- 
ment which causes the cells to fall apart. Take one of these 
short pieces of the intestine; cut it open; and scrape off 
the mucous membrane, discarding the muscular layer. With 
needles, separate the material thus obtained into a powdery 
substance ; add a cover ; and examine with low and high powers. 
Elongated cells will be found arranged in groups and singly. 
Determine the exact shapes of typical cells, and how the cells 
are fitted together. What is the exact appearance of the 
nucleus ? Make a drawing of a typical cell and of several cells 
grouped together. Size two or more inches for length of the 
cell. 



26 Histology 

Exercise 31. Ciliated Columnar Epithelium from the Frog's 
Mouth 

(d) Examine in salt solution a bit of the mucous mem- 
brane from the roof of the mouth of a recently killed frog. 
Scrape off the softer material on the mouth side of the piece, 
discarding the tough membranous material; and add a cover 
after further teasing of the sticky mass which remains. With 
low power, look for movement appearing in different parts of 
the mass and resembling the flickering of a flame. Or the 
vibration of the small detached particles which are being driv- 
en about by the cilia may first attract attention. Examine such 
a place with the high power and study the action of the cilia 
in mass and upon single detached cells. The cells are rather 
short "columns," tending to be pointed at their inner ends 
and blunt at their outer, ciliated ends, but contracting when 
the living cells are torn apart and appearing as globular or 
bluntly cone-shaped bodies. The cilia cannot be seen indi- 
vidually; but they may be recognized as a flickering zone, 
bordering the free ends of the cells. Observe the action of 
the cilia and its effect upon any small particles which may be 
in the preparation. Look for dying cells whose cilia are no 
longer in motion or have entirely disappeared. In such cells 
the nucleus may be distinguished. It is of relatively large size. 
Draw one or more of these cells. Size two inches in length. 

(e) Observe, in a demonstration, the action of the cilia upon 
small objects placed npon the roof of the mouth; and com- 
pare with their action upon microscopic particles. What is 
the function of these cilia? 

Exercise 32. Striated Muscle 

(f ) Take a small bit of muscle from a freshly killed frog 
and place it at once in a watchglass half full of normal salt 
solution. Do not at any time give the material the least chance 
to dry. With needles fray out the piece, separating but not 
injuring the individual fibres which may be seen with the 
eye. (1) Stain a small mass of fibres as follows : Put a drop 
of methyl violet on one end of a slide and a drop of water 



Histology 27 

on the other; with forceps, put several fibres into the stain 
and leave them there for about half a minute ; then transfer 
them to the water to wash off the surplus stain; mount them 
in a clean drop of water on another slide. If the preparation is 
successful, the nuclei will be stained a deeper purple than the 
rest of the fibre. (2) Mount a few fibres in salt solution with- 
out staining. Use these two slides in the following studies. 
For nuclei, the stained material should be used; for other 
features, the unstained fibres will be more satisfactory. 

(g) Each fibre is a single cell, but one with a large num- 
ber of nuclei. What about the length of such a cell? Each 
fibre is composed of a large number of very minute fibrillae, 
which cause it to show rather indistinct longitudinal mark- 
ings. There is a very much more distinct transverse striation, 
the feature from which this kind of muscle derives its name. 
The fibre is enclosed in a very delicate membrane, the sarco- 
lemma, which cannot be recognized except at places where 
the fibre is somewhat injured or at the end of the fibre. Draw 
a portion of a fibre to show all these features. Size at least 
one-half inch in diameter. 

Exercise 33. Non-striated or Smooth Muscle 

(h) Examine a piece of the digestive tract of the frog 
which has been properly macerated to separate the fibres. 
Tease thoroughly and mount. The cells are elongated, tapered 
towards the ends, and each has a prominent nucleus near the 
middle. How do these fibres compare in size and shape with 
striated muscle fibres? Draw a typical cell. Size at least two 
inches in length. 

Exercise 34. Cartilage 

(i) Examine in salt solution sections of cartilage that have 
just been cut, with a sharp knife, from the head of the femur 
of a recently killed frog. After locating with the low power 
the thinnest part of the section and distinguishing the cartilage 
proper from the regions in which bony material is deposited, 
study with high power. Cartilage is a tissue having its cells 



28 Histology 

widely separated and the intervening mass or matrix of a 
transparent, rubber-like material. The cartilage cells lie in 
holes called lacunae within the matrix. In some lacunae there 
may be seen two cells; or two lacunae may be seen close to- 
gether with flattened adjacent sides, indicating that cell di- 
vision has recently taken place. Can you also find cells in 
fours? In eights? Draw, showing cells and matrix. Size of 
cells about one-half inch in diameter. 

Exercise 35. Connective Tissue 

(j) Examine a small piece of connective tissue, spreading 
it out flat on a slide in a drop of water, adding a cover aftei? 
fraying out the edge a little with needles. This tissue is 
most readily obtained from between the muscles of the leg 
in a preserved frog or from the inside of a cat's skin which 
has been preserved in formaldehyde. Connective tissue re- 
sembles cartilage in having widely separated cells with a 
large amount of intercellular material, but differs from it in 
that this material is in the form of very fine fibres. There are 
two kinds of these fibres : white fibres, very fine ones which 
run in wavy bundles; and elastic fibres, which are thicker, 
occur singly, and are straight. In some preparations one and 
in some the other type of fibre predominates. In many prepa- 
rations it will be hard to distinguish the two kinds. The cells 
of connective tissue are not easy to demonstrate but they may 
be seen by staining. To stain this material, remove the cover 
and stain, as in the case of the striated muscle fibres, with 
methyl violet. Make a drawing to illustrate connective tissue. 

Exercise 36. Bone 

(k) Pieces of dried bone, ground to thin sections, will be 
used. In these, only the inorganic substance of the bone re- 
mains; but the extent and distribution of the bone cells is 
shown by the cavities which the eells once occupied. These 
cavities, or lacunae appear black, because in the grinding of 
the section they become filled with dirt and air. Examination 
with high power will show: the lacunae as elongated, black 



Histology 29 

areas which were formerly occupied by cells; and radiating 
from them, fine black lines, the canaliculi, which in life were 
occupied by delicate processes of the bone cells. Compare 
the structure here observed with that seen in cartilage. In 
some bones, the cells are grouped about canals in which run 
blood vessels. These are termed Haversian canals, each of 
which with its surrounding cells is an Haversian system. 
Stained sections of decalcified bone show the cells and their 
nuclei. Examine, if available. Draw, showing the points ob- 
served. Size of lacunae or cells about one-half inch in length. 

Exercise 37. Blood of Frog 

(1) Place a drop of the frog's blood on a slide. Cover at 
once, before it has time to begin to dry, as drying changes 
the appearance of the cells. Blood is a tissue composed of 
two kinds of cells foating in a fluid, the plasma. What is the 
color of the red cells or corpuscles when seen singly? Deter- 
mine their shape by observing them from different angles. The 
nucleus is readily seen. The colorless cells, or leucocytes, are 
much less numerous^ and very transparent ; they are much 
smaller than the red cells. Some of them will be seen to be ir- 
regular in shape ; and you may possibly see that some of 
them change shape while you watch them; their nuclei can- 
not be recognized. Make a model, with a piece of oil clay, 
showing the shape of each kind of cell. Make drawings of red 
cells in different positions, to show their shape. Make draw- 
ings of the colorless cells. Size of red cells about two inches in 
the longer diameter, white cells in proportion. 

(m) Stain a fresh preparation with methyl violet by plac- 
ing a small drop of the stain at the edge of the coverglass and 
allowing it to run under. Study especially the colorless cells 
in which the nucleus is now visible. Add this to your draw- 
ing. 

(n) Watch the circulation of blood in the 'web of frog's 
foot, looking for the two kinds of corpuscles, and noting the 
relative size of blood cells and capillaries. 



30 Histology 

Exercise 38. Human Blood 

(o) Secure the blood as follows: Sterilize a needle by 
passing it through a flame. Wrap a finger tightly with a clean 
handkerchief or towel, beginning at the base, so that the tip 
becomes distended with blood. Prick with a needle just back 
of the base of the nail till you get a good sized drop. Touch 
a slide to it and cover at once. Compare with frog's blood 
in regard to size and shape of red cells. Do you find a nu- 
cleus? Observe that the cells may be arranged in rows like 
piles of coins. These are called rouleaux. Do the colorless 
cells seem to differ in number or appearance from those of the 
frog? Make a clay model of a red cell. Make drawings show- 
ing the red cells, both singly and in groups. Size of cells 
about one inch in diameter. 

(p) Stain human blood as follows: Place a drop of methyl 
violet on your finger and prick through the stain allowing 
the blood to be stained as it flows from the wound. Mount at 
once. Make necessary drawings or notes. 

TISSUES COMBINED IN ORGANS 
Exercise 39. The Skin of the Frog 

(q) The skin will be studied in a permanently stained and 
mounted section cut at right angles to the surface. Double 
staining has been employed, so that the nuclear substance is 
stained a different color from the cytoplasmic substance. The 
skin is made up of two layers : the epidermis on the ouside 
and under it the dermis or corium. The epidermis is a strati- 
fied squamous epithelium. Its superficial cells are much flat- 
tened, and the deeper ones become progressively less so. On 
the surface is the layer of very flat cells which you studied 
from a surface view in Exercise 28. The dermis is composed of 
connective tissue with numerous blood vessels and two layers 
of cells containing pigment. Notice the large glands opening 
to the exterior by pores or ducts. To which of the two layers 
of the skin do the cells lining the glands belong? What is 
the function of these glands ? Have you anything comparable 



Histology 31 

in your own skin? What is the function of these glands in 
the frog? Make a good sized drawing of a narrow vertical 
strip through the skin, showing in detail the structure of the 
layers and including a gland which is so cut as to show the 
duct. Label fully. 

Exercise 40. The Wall of the Digestive Tract 

(r) The intestine of the mud-puppy Necturus is better for 
this study than the intestine of the frog. The structures ob- 
served are found in all vertebrates. On the slide are very thin 
sections cut across the intestine, and showing the structures 
as they actually lie in place. Compare with the rough sec- 
tions of the stomach which were previously studied (Exercise 
5). As with the section of the skin, double staining has been 
employed. Identify the gross features of the sections with the 
handlens, before studying with the low and high powers of 
the compound microscope. There are five layers in the wall 
of the intestine : On the outside is the peritoneum, composed of 
a single layer of squamous epithelium, here seen from the 
edge. Beneath this is the longitudinal muscle layer, of smooth 
muscle cells, cut across in the section. This is followed by 
the circular muscle layer, similar to the longitudinal layer, 
except that the fibres run around the intestine and are, there- 
fore, cut lengthwise. Next to this is the submucosa, which is 
composed of connective tissue and contains many large blood 
vessels. What is their function? What is the structure of 
their walls? Do any of them contain blood cells? The in- 
ner layer, bounding the cavity, is the mucosa or mucous mem- 
brane. It is composed of a single layer of columnar epithelium. 
In this layer are seen many goblet cells, each with its drop of 
mucus. Can you find cases where the mucus is being secreted 
into the intestine ? Between the submucosa and the epithelium 
of the mucosa is a thin layer of smooth muscle cells, the mus- 
cularis mucosae. This is considered a part of the mucous mem- 
brane. Understand thoroughly the structure of each of these 
layers and be able to explain the part each plays in the func- 
tioning of the digestive tract. A part of the mesentery is usu- 



32 The Amceba 

ally seen attached to the section. Which layer of the intestine 
forms the outer layers of the mesentery? What tissue forms 
the middle layer of the mesentery? Are there blood vessels 
in the mesentery? Make two drawings to show the above 
points: (1) A simple outline about three inches across, show- 
ing the general form of the section and its layers, but no de- 
tails within the layers. (2) A full page drawing of a nar- 
row strip across the wall of the intestine, showing the details 
of structure as they appear under high power. Label thor- 
oughly, giving the names of the layers and the tissues of which 
each is composed and any other features of interest. 

UNICELLULAR ANIMALS AND PLANTS 

I. THE AMCEBA 
PHYLUM, PEOTOZOA. CLASS, KHIZOPODA 
Exercise 1. Occurrence and Collection 

(a) Many species of the genus Amoeba and its close rela- 
tives occur in fresh-water, others in moist soil, and some as 
parasites in the digestive tracts of larger animals. The fresh- 
water amoebas are often found in abundance, but the cultures 
are difficult to control and the amoeba is, therefore, not so 
easily secured at specified times as are many other unicellular 
forms. The ooze from the bottom of a pond or stream, the 
floating scum, the slime adhering to the stems and leaves of 
the larger water plants, and similar material not infrequently 
contains great numbers of amoebas. If you have opportunity, 
it is interesting to see the actual collection in the field and how 
the cultures are handled. In any case, examine several labora- 
tory cultures, which contain amoebas and other protozoa, 
noting the general appearance of the material, its color, odor, 
and the like. 

Exercise 2. General Structure and Activities 

(b) Fresh material from a culture known to contain amoe- 
ba will be placed on slides and distributed. Use a very small 



The Amceba 33 

aperture in the diaphragm and look with the low power for 
small, transparent objects containing minute granules. After 
finding such an object examine under high power. If it is an 
amceba, the characteristic flowing movements will be recog- 
nized. If an amoeba is not readily discovered, look at one un- 
der a neighboring microscope or ask the instructor to show you 
a specimen. The amoebas are not difficult to find in a good cul- 
ture, although other forms are often mistaken for them. When 
a specimen is located, slowly open and close the iris diaphragm 
and watch result. Why it is necessary to use a small aperture 
in searching for amcebas and similar transparent organisms? 
Watch the changes in shape. Does the animal accomplish a 
definite locomotion by this means? The processes which flow 
out from the cell are called pseudopodia, i. e., "false feet". 
Make four drawings showing the outlines assumed by a single 
individual at intervals of one minute. These drawings should 
omit all internal structure and show outlines only, the direc- 
tion of the flow being indicated by arrows. 

(c) Begin a large drawing, by making an outline three or 
four inches across; and, as }^ou proceed, add the items noted 
in the following sections. Examine the substance composing 
the unicellular body. There is an outer region of clear ec- 
toplasm and an inner mass of granular endoplasm. Some 
of the larger masses in the endoplasm are surrounded by a 
clear drop of fluid. Sometimes the contents of such watery 
drops or vacuoles can be recognized as green plant cells, sim- 
ilar to the ones found in the water outside. These spaces are 
food vacuoles or V temporary stomachs" in which food is be- 
ing digested. Examine the other granules of the endoplasm, 
determining their size and shape. Determine the nature oi 
the boundary between ectoplasm and endoplasm by watching 
the formation of pseudopodia. 

(d) A single large vacuole may be identified as the con- 
tractile vacuole, if it is seen to contract quickly and then to 
expand slowly. This contains no particles, only fluid which 
is drawn from the endoplasm and then forced to the outside, 
It is not easily recognized in the smaller specimens. 



34 The Euglena 

(e) The nucleus is seen with difficulty in the smaller indi- 
viduals, but is usually recognized in larger ones as an oval 
mass, finely granular, transparent, and about the size of the 
expanded contractile vacuole. What is the exact shape of 
the nucleus as seen in a large amoeba? If the nucleus is not 
seen clearly in the living animal, examine a demonstration of 
a stained and permanently mounted specimen. 

(f) If individual amcebas are carefully watched, it is some- 
times possible to observe the manner in which food is ingested 
and fecal matter egested. 

(g) Add to the general drawing such of the above details 
as you have actually seen, labeling all parts. 

(h) Examine amoebas in a drop of water on a slide, with- 
out a coverglass and under the highest magnification obtain- 
able with low objective. What can you make of the vertical- 
dimension? Correct any errors in previous figures and make 
a clay model to show the superficial features. 

Exercise 3. Special Structures and Activities 

■ (i) If large specimens are abundant, study the contractile 
vacuole as it appears and disappears, and represent by a series 
of figures; study also the currents within the endoplasm and 
the changes in external contour by which single pseudopodia 
are formed and withdrawn. Drawings are desirable. 

II. THE EUGLENA 

PHYLUM, PROTOZOA. CLASS, MASTIGOPHOEA 
Exercise 1. Occurrence and Collection 

(a) Species of the genus Euglena are common in fresh 
water, being sometimes present in such numbers as to cause 
the green or reddish color in the bottom ooze or surface scum 
of ponds and sluggish streams. If you do not have opportuni- 
ty to see the material collected, examine the cultures contain- 
ing euglenas, noting their general appearance and the parts 
of the vessels in which they are most abundant. 



The Euglena 35 

Exercise 2. Active Phase 

(b) Fresh material from the cultures will be distributed 
on slides. Look with the low power for elongated, green bodies 
which may be at rest or moving about. Put one under the 
high power and observe the form and movements. Can you 
distinguish an anterior and a posterior end? A slight notch 
in the profile of one end marks the opening of the gullet, with- 
in which is attached the flagellum, a long thread-like process 
difficult to see when in motion. Understand from textbook or 
lectures how this is used in locomotion. Find individuals 
which are expanded and others which are contracted; or bet- 
ter, observe how a single individual expands and contracts. 
Make a clay model to show these external features. 

(c) Begin figures three or four inches long, showing the 
outlines of: (1) a contracted; and (2) an expanded euglena. 
As you proceed, add details to the latter drawing, labelling 
fully. 

(d) Continue, examining favorable specimens. Do you find 
a nucleus? What other structures can you find inside the cell 
or on its outer surface? There is a spot of red pigment at 
the anterior end, the so-called eye-spot. The lighter spot in 
this portion of the cell is caused by a group of vacuoles which 
function as do the contractile vacuoles of other forms. 

(e) Examine demonstration specimens, showing the nucleus. 

(f ) If the flagellum has not been observed, prepare another 
slide and stain with iodine or methyl violet. Look for the 
flagellum at the anterior end and add this to the diagram. 

Exercise 3. Encysted Phase 

(g) Encysted euglenas are often found in cultures which 
have been standing for some days in the laboratory. Examine 
such materials, and note pigment spot, nucleus, and cyst. Do 
any of the individuals shows signs of cell division? Under- 
stand from lectures or textbook the relation between the two 
phases of the life-cycle. Draw one or more individuals in this, 
encysted condition. 



36 The Paramecium 



III. THE PARAMECIUM 
PHYLUM, PROTOZOA. CLASS, INFUSORIA 
Exercise 1. Occurrence and Collection 

(a) Paramecium is one of the unicellular forms most easily 
obtained. The species P. caudatum is commonly studied. In 
nature, the animals are most abundant where the water is 
foul and ill-smelling, as in streams having a large amount of 
sewage and other organic material in process of decomposition. 
Examine the laboratory cultures and note how they differ 
from cultures of amoeba and euglena. The animals may be 
seen with the eye as moving, white specks. Do they tend to 
collect at certain places in the culture jars? 

Exercise 2. General Structure and Activities 

(b) Fresh material will be distributed on slides, without 
coverglasses. Do not add a cover at first; but examine with 
the low power, noting the rapid movements and general be- 
havior. Watch a single individual as it moves about. What 
determines the direction of its locomotion? Does the animal 
act as though it profited by experience? Determine the exact 
shape. How does the anterior end differ from the posterior? 
What is the shape and position of the buccal groove, which 
extends backward from the anterior end on one side of the 
body? At what point does this groove pass within the body 
as a blind tunnel, the gullet? Is the animal bilaterally sym- 
metrical? Disregarding for the present the granular contents 
of the body, make a clay model showing only the external 
features. With the aid of the model and specimens examined 
without a coverglass, make a drawing showing the external 
features only. 

(c) Put a very small number of absorbent cotton fibres 
upon a drop of water containing paramoecia and add a cover- 
glass. The animals will be caught in pens, formed by the 
meshes of the cotton, and kept within a limited space. Find 



The Paramecium .37 

an animal which is thus enclosed, but not in any way crushed, 
and examine with low and high powers. As it becomes 
quieter, make out : the cilia, which cover the surface of the 
body and cause locomotion; the contractile vacuoles, two 
clear vesicles which appear and disappear; food vacuoles, 
scattered through the body and having variously appearing 
contents; and the granular substance of which the cell- is 
composed. Add the cilia to your previous drawing ; and then 
begin a large figure, three or four inches long, showing the 
internal structure. Put in all points thus far observed and 
add others as you proceed. 

(d) Make a fresh mount, without cotton, and stain with 
methyl green or aceto-carmine. Look for a nucleus. Does 
the nucleus react differently from the cytoplasm when the 
stain is applied? What does the staining indicate regarding 
the chemical or physical composition of nucleus and cyto- 
plasm ? The conspicuous nuclear structure, seen by this means 
or in the living paramoecium, is the larger or macro-nucleus. 

(e) Examine a demonstration showing the smaller or mi- 
cro-nucleus. In life this is imbedded in a depression at one 
side of the macro-nucleus and cannot be recognized with cer- 
tainty by the crude staining method applied to the living ani- 
mals as in (d). 

Exercise 3. The Trichocysts 

(f ) Look in this same preparation for specimens in which 
many stiff processes, much longer than the cilia, have been 
extruded from the cell as a result of contact with the stain. 
If not found, try another slide, adding a drop of stain to the 
water on the slide before putting on the cover. These are the 
trichocysts. They are used for defensive purposes. How? 
Draw a small portion of the body margin, on a large scale, 
showing trichocysts and cilia; or these may be shown on a 
part of the margin in the figure of the internal structure. 

Exercise 4. The Food Vacuoles 

(g) Take a very small drop of water, containing many 
paramcecia, and add an equal amount of water containing In- 



38 The Paeamcecium 

dia ink or finely powdered carmine. "Watch for a time and 
see whether any ink gets into the cell. Where and how? Study 
also the action of the locomotor cilia, as they drive the particles 
about. Examine any ink which has entered the body and ob- 
serve how the food vacuoles originate. How is the ink con- 
tained within the cell? Can you see the actual "gulping 
down'* of the particles? In this fashion food enters the para- 
moecium. A drawing is desirable. 

Exercise 5. The Contractile Vacuoles 

(h) Mount some specimens in a very small drop of water, 
holding them in place, without crushing, by the weight of 
coverglass. Study the formation and collapse of the con- 
tractile vacuole and time the contractions. Write an accurate 
description, accompanied by three drawings showing stages in 
the process. 

Exercise 6. Finer Structure of the Protoplasm 

(i) Put a small drop of water containing paramoecia upon 
a slide and cover with a slip. Draw off the water with filter 
paper until the animals are brought under pressure, but not 
crushed. Examine with the high power looking along the 
margin of the cell for rod-like bodies, the trichocysts before 
discharge. The firm line outside these is the cuticle. The 
trichocysts lie in the ectoplasm. Draw off the water until 
the animal is crushed and the semi-fluid endoplasm flows out. 
Examine this mass with highest power and see what you can 
make of it. To what extent does the visible structure explain 
the activities of this unicellular organism? 

Exercise 7. Eeproduction 

(j) Individuals are often seen in process of reproduction. 
This occurs by the binary fission of the cell. If such a speci- 
men is found, it may be kept under observation by moving 
the slide about; and after some minutes will be seen to 
separate into two independent cells, each of which subsequent- 
ly becomes a perfect individual. Examine demonstrations, 



Gkeoaeina and Monocystis 39 

showing the division of the nuclei. By this process of cell di- 
vision reproduction is accomplished. Draw, if observed. 

Exercise 8. Conjugation 

(k) Paramoecia may be found in process of conjugation. 
They are easily recognized as pairs which swim about adher- 
ing together by their buccal grooves. Study and draw such 
pairs if found. 

(1) Examine demonstrations showing the nuclei during 
conjugation. Understand from lectures or textbook what hap- 
pens to the nuclei and what is the probable significance of 
conjugation. A drawing is desirable. 

IV. GREGARINA AND MONOCYSTIS 

PHYLUM, PROTOZOA. CLASS, SPOROZOA 

Exercise 1. Occurrence and Preparation of Gregarina 

(a) Many protozoa live as parasites in the bodies of other 
animals. Notable among these, are the gregarines, which oc- 
cur in the digestive tracts of arthropods. Material for this 
study may be obtained from the larvae or adults of the meal 
beetle, Tenebrio. Take a living larva of the beetle on a glass 
slide and snip off, with scissors, the last segment of the body. 
With forceps, tear off the head, endeavoring to pull out the 
entire digestive tract along with the head. The digestive 
tract may then be placed on the slide and the other parts dis- 
carded. Without adding a coverslip, examine the transparent 
tract with low power. The gregarines, if present in numbers, 
will be seen within the tract as dark colored bodies, two or 
three times longer than broad. Look for a digestive tract con- 
taining a considerable number of the gregarines. When found, 
such a tract may be chopped or teased to pieces in a very small 
drop of salt solution before adding the cover. If your neigh- 
bors are less fortunate, a single digestive tract may be used 
for the making of several preparations. As the infection with 



40 Gbegabina and Monocystis 

any parasite is largely a matter of chance, a number of trials 
may be necessary before satisfactory material is obtained. 
Avoid getting much of the creamy fat-body of the insect mixed 
with the bits of the digestive tract ; and use the salt solution 
sparingly, as the gregarines live longest when in the fluid of 
the gut cavity. 

■ Exercise 2. Active Stage of Gregarina 

(b) The gregarine has sharp outlines because of its firm cell 
membrane. The cell is divided into two parts, a smaller 
protomerite and a larger deutomerite. Where is the nucleus? 
Is there ectoplasm and endoplasm ? What is the nature of the 
protoplasmic structure? Do the organisms move, and how! 
Do you find more than one type ? Individuals are often found 
attached end to end. This is not cell division, nor conjugation, 
but merely a habit of the animals as they plow through the 
thickish fluid in which they live. Draw a good sized figure or 
figures to show the above. Compare the gregarine with the 
paramcecium. How is the structure and activity of each re- 
lated to its environment? 

Exercise 3. Encysted Stages of Monocystis 

(c) Encysted stages are not readily obtained in the case 
of Gregarina; but may be found in individuals of the genus 
Monocystis, a sporozoan which lives in the seminal vesicles of 
the earthworm. Here the encysted stages are abundant and 
the active stages present in lesser numbers. 

(d) Take a bit of the seminal vesicle from a fresh earth- 
worm and tease out in salt solution on a slide. Add a cover 
and look for spherical bodies, containing two hemispherical 
cells or many smaller spindle-shaped objects. These are the 
encysted stages of this gregarine. Look for active stages. 
The latter are large, spindle-shaped, naked cells. Have they 
a nucleus? Protomerite? Deutomerite? By reference to 
textbook or to instructor's explanation in laboratory, identify 
as many stages as your slide affords and draw the same ar- 
ranged in order. 



Yeast and Bacteria 41 

V. YEAST AND BACTERIA 
ASCOMYCETES AND SCHIZOMYCETES 
Exercise 1. Occurrence and Preparation 

(a) Yeasts and Bacteria are unicellular plants which are 
very widely distributed in both their active and their encysted 
stages. Their occurrence in the decomposing organic material 
which constitutes their food, in the dust of the atmosphere, 
and under a wide range of conditions will be appreciated after 
the completion of the study which is here outlined. For this 
work, yeast is obtained by adding a small bit of yeast cake 
to Pasteur's solution, a nutrient fluid containing the chemi- 
cal compounds essential for the growth of "yeast plants". 
After a few hours, the resting stages of the yeast cake have 
become active and have produced, by cell division, large num- 
bers of cells which continue to multiply as long as sufficient 
food material remains. Brewers' yeast is a variety which 
is preferable to that of the ordinary yeast cake, because the 
cells are of greater size and the cell divisions more conspicu- 
ous. Bacteria will be found in the cultures along with the 
yeast cells, but may be obtained in greater variety from cul- 
tures prepared by adding pond water to such organic sub- 
stances as hay, bread, beans, gelatin, beef broth, and the 
dead bodies of animals. 

Exercise 2. Structure of the Yeast Plant 

(b) Get a drop from a yeast culture, add a coverglass, and 
examine with low and high powers. Countless oval cells, the 
"yeast plants", will be seen. Is there a definite cell- wall? 
What structures are found in the protoplasm? The nuclei of 
the yeast cells cannot be seen without special staining. Do 
you find the cells in process of division? Compare with the 
binary fission of paramcecium. This form of cell division is 
called budding. How does yeast grow and reproduce itself? 
Draw a single cell, showing the detailed structure; also a 



42 Yeast and Bacteria 

colony or group of cells in outline only. Size about two inches 
in diameter. 

Exercise 3. Experiments in the Growth of Yeast 

(c) Clean three test-tubes : Fill the first two-thirds full 
with distilled water; the second and third two-thirds full 
with Pasteur's solution. Label the tubes. To each tube add 
a little yeast taken from a culture. Plug each tube with cot- 
ton. Boil the second tube after plugging, and do not remove 
the plug after the boiling. Note the appearance of each tube 
and construct a table to record same as observed on this and 
subsequent days. Set all three tubes aside for examination 
at next laboratory period. 

(d) After 24 or 48 hours, examine the tubes, without un- 
plugging, to determine the changes visible with eye alone or 
with handlens. Record in table. Unplug and take a sample 
of the solution from each tube. Place on separate slides, cover, 
and study with microscope. Do you find yeast plants in each 
tube? Record in table. What conclusions do you draw re- 
garding the conditions under which yeast grows? This ex- 
periment is now completed and the tubes should be washed 
and returned. 

Exercise 4. Bacteria in the Active Stage 

(e) Examine under low and high powers a drop of fluid 
from an "infusion" which has been standing several hours 
and become turbid. Find the cause of the turbidity. Draw 
off most of the water from under the cover and study the 
objects with a good light and highest power. Is there any 
movement? Is there any active translation from place to 
place? These minute bodies are mostly living bacteria. Study 
several slides if necessary, making out their form and propor- 
tions. Can you see any nucleus or other internal structure? 
Draw on a large scale to show, in outline only, the shapes of as 
many distinct types as you discover. By the methods ex- 
plained on p. 27, estimate the size of some of the larger 
bacteria. 



Yeast and Bacteria 43 

(f ) Examine various cultures and infusions, observing the 
conditions under which bacteria in the active state may be 
very abundant. Record in your notes the kind and the rela- 
tive abundance of the bacteria, and the general conditions in 
each culture examined. 

Exercise 5. Resting Phases of Bacteria and Yeast 

(g) Examine demonstrations showing spores in yeast and 
bacteria. Draw. "What is the importance of such stages in the 
life-cycle ? 

Exercise 6. An Experiment with the Dust of the Air 

(h) In this experiment, either a watchglass containing a 
gelatinous culture medium or a cooked potato will be used. 
In the latter case, potatoes that have been in a steam sterilizer 
for one hour will be given out. Cut the potato in halves with 
a knife heated in a flame. Lay the halves directly upon the 
surface of a sterilized glass plate, with cut surface upward. 
Be sure that nothing except the heated knife touches the cut 
surface. Leave cut surface exposed to air of laboratory for 
one hour. At end of this time cover with a sterilized finger 
bowl. Paste labels with your name on glass plate and finger 
bowl, as the potato will remain on table for several days. Each 
time you come into the laboratory examine the surface for any 
changes visible to the eye. When growths appear scrape off 
a little of the material with a sterilized knife, dilute with 
sterile water and examine under the microscope. Why does 
this experiment fail to prove conclusively that the bacterial 
and other growths, which have appeared upon the potato, have 
come from the dust of the air ? Do you think bacteria, yeasts 
and moulds are more widely distributed in their active or in 
their resting condition? Write out in your notes the con- 
clusions you can now draw, regarding the floating matter* of 
the air and the conditions under which the spores of bac- 
teria, yeasts, and moulds will germinate; also any applica- 
tions to the protozoa. When the experiment is completed wash 
and return the glassware. 



44 The Hydra 

SIMPLE MULTICELLULAR ANIMALS 

I. THE HYDRA 

PHYLUM, CCELENTEKATA. CLASS, HYDEOZOA 
Exercise 1. Occurrence and Collection 

(a) Two species of Hydra are commonly found: Hydra 
viridis, which is green ; and Hydra vulgaris, which is usually 
gray, though at times brownish. The hydras live in ponds of 
clear water, and are most readily collected when attached to 
small objects or to the stems and leaves of pond plants. In 
the fall, they are often found in great numbers attached to the 
dead leaves which have sunk to the bottom of a pond. When 
such material is brought into the laboratory and allowed to 
stand in aquarium jars, the hydras can be seen attached to the 
vegetation or to the walls of the jars. Such cultures should be 
examined in order that the animals may be seen under ap- 
proximately natural conditions. 

Exercise 2. External Features 

(b) Study a hydra in a watchglass with sufficient water 
to allow the animal to expand properly. Use handlens and low- 
est power of compound microscope. The animal is attached 
by one end, the base. The free end of the cylindrical body 
terminates in a conical elevation, the hypostome, about which 
are several tentacles. How many? In the end of the hy- 
postome is the mouth, which is likely to be tightly closed un- 
less the animal is feeding. Notice the knob-like swellings on 
the tentacles. These are clusters of stinging capsules which 
will be studied later. Observe the movements and changes 
of shape of the animal and make a drawing to show its ex- 
ternal features when it is well extended. Make also an outline 
drawing of a contracted hydra. 

Exercise 3. General Internal Structure 

(c) Notice that the body is hollow, containing a space, 
the digestive or enteric cavity into which the mouth opens. 



The Hydra 45 

but the three barbs appear pressed together and resembling 
a miniature spearhead. Look carefully on the edge of the 
tentacle for thorn-like processes, the "trigger-hairs" or cnido- 
cils. These are projections from the cnidoblasts. Draw, show- 
ing the above. 

(g) Run a drop of saffranin under the cover and remove 
the filter paper so that the animal will be crushed. This causes 
the discharge of many more nematocysts and it also stains 
some of them. Look for nematocysts of much smaller size 
than those studied above, and having a thicker thread with- 
out barbs. These are deeply stained and can be seen in both 
their discharged and undischarged condition. If necessary, 
tap on the cover to cause further breaking up of the animal. 
Other types of nematocysts may be seen by using the high- 
est magnification. Make drawings of these smaller types of 
nematocysts. 

Exercise 6. The Cells after Maceration 

(h) Macerate a hydra with Bela Haller's fluid as follows: 
Place the animal on a slide with very little water, and add 
a drop of Bela Haller's fluid. After one-half minute, quickly 
remove the fluid, with Alter paper, and add at once a drop of 
methyl violet. After about two minutes remove the stain and 
add a drop of water. Break up the hydra by teasing with 
needles, and put on a cover. If necessary, tap gently on the 
cover with a needle to further separate the cells. In this 
way the cells may be separated from each other while the in- 
dividual cells are left intact. 

(i) The following types of cells will be recognized in fa- 
vorable preparations: (1) Endoderm cells, the largest ones 
present, usually elongated and always with a conspicuous vacu- 
ole or vacuoles in the cytoplasm; (2) Gland cells, elongated, 
slender cells with deeply stained, granular cytoplasm; (3) Ec- 
toderm cells, somewhat smaller than the endoderm cells and 
rectangular in shape ; (4) Interstitial cells, very small, round- 
ed cells, with relatively large nuclei; (5) Stinging cells or 
cnidoblasts, perhaps already recognized and studied. It may 



46 The Hydra 

The wall surrounding the cavity is composed of two layers 
of cells, the outer of which, the ectoderm, is thinner and more 
transparent than the inner layer or endoderm. In the green 
hydra, the endoderm is bright green and the ectoderm color- 
less. Can you distinguish these layers of cells ? Are there ex- 
tensions of the enteric cavity in the tentacles? 

(d) Study prepared cross sections of the hydra. The two 
layers of cells will be recognized and between them a thin 
layer, the supporting lamella, which is not composed of cells. 
Make a diagrammatic drawing of this section, and also a dia- 
grammatic figure to show the structure of the animal as it 
would appear in a longitudinal section passing from end to 
end and including a tentacle. 

Exercise 4. The Ingestion of Food 

(e) For this exercise it is necessary to use hydras that 
have been made "hungry" by keeping them without food for 
at least twenty-four hours. Use as food small bits of the 
flesh of a frog, crawfish, water snail, or raw beef. To induce 
the animal to take the food, use a clean needle and push a 
small bit of the food against the tentacles or close to the 
mouth. Watch the animal throughout the process, using hand- 
lens and lowest power of compound microscope. Make a series 
of sketches to show how the ingestion is accomplished. 

Exercise 5. The Cnidoblast Cells and their Nematocysts 

(f) Mount a hydra on a slide, under a coverglass sup- 
ported at one edge by a very small piece of filter paper. Ex- 
amine with low power of compound microscope. Clear, ovoid 
bodies, the nematocysts, are seen in the tentacles, and less 
abundantly in other parts of the animal. Each nematocyst is 
contained within a cell known as a cnidoblast. Tap on the 
cover and induce some of the nematocysts to " discharge". 
In the discharged condition, a long, slender thread with barbs 
near its base is seen projecting from a bulb-like capsule. In 
the undischarged condition, this thread is coiled up inside the 
capsule. This coil is not readily seen in the large nematocysts, 



The Hydra 47 

be possible to find some of these last in which the capsule has 
not been torn from the cell, in which case the cytoplasm and 
nucleus can be recognized. Draw typical examples of as 
many of these cells as you can identify. 

(j) From these laboratory studies, what conclusions can 
you draw regarding cell specialization and the relative devel- 
opment of tissues and organs in the protozoa, the hydra, and 
the frog? 

Exercise 7. Reproduction by Germ Cells 

(k) Sexual organs appear periodically on the hydra, al- 
though they are absent during. the greater part of the year. 
The mature ovary contains a single egg, surrounded by a 
protective shell. The testes are hemispherical organs, each 
containing many spermatozoa. Make drawings. 

Exercise 8. Reproduction by Budding 

(1) Make a sketch or sketches of a budding hydra, from 
living or stained preparations, , as material is available. 

Exercise 9. Regeneration 

(m) Clean two watchglasses, filling one of them two-thirds 
full of water, from a jar in which hydras have been living, and 
using the other as a cover. Take several hydras and cut each 
transversely into two or more pieces. Examine the pieces with 
low power of compound microscope. Set aside and examine 
at subsequent laboratory periods until the regeneration is 
complete. The phenomenon of regeneration is widespread, but 
is most highly developed among those groups of animals which 
reproduce extensively by means of vegetative processes such 
as budding and fission. Compare with the well known powers 
of regeneration and vegetative reproduction in plants. 



48 The Obelia 

II. THE HYDROIDS AND HYDRO-MEDUSAE 
Exercise 1. Occurrence and General Structure of Colony 

(a) Hydroids are marine coelenterates closely resembling 
hydra in their general structure. They live attached to rocks, 
seaweed, submerged woodwork, and the like. They differ 
from hydra in that the individuals, instead of living singly, 
live together in colonies comparable to the colony which would 
be formed if a hydra budded many times and all the buds 
remained united to the parent body. 

(b) For this study, preserved specimens of the hydroid 
Obelia geniculata will be used. Examine, with a handlens, a 
portion of a colony in a watchglass of water; and also mu- 
seum specimens of entire colonies of 0. geniculata and other hy- 
droids. In some of the colonies, the individuals are large 
enough to be recognized without a lens. Examine the obelia 
with lowest power of compound microscope. There are two 
kinds of individuals which are permanent members of the 
colony: (1) Feeding individuals or hydranths; (2) Repro- 
ductive individuals or blastostyles. There is thus a "division 
of labor", among the individuals of the colony. The feeding 
individuals, which are the more numerous, are those with 
tentacles. Immature feeding individuals with rounded ends 
will also be seen. The reproductive individuals are the club- 
shaped structures found near the base of the stem. Notice 
how the upright stems are fastened at the base and how root- 
like, horizontal stems extend over the surface on which the 
colony is attached. Draw (x 2), showing these general fea- 
tures of a portion of a colony. 

Exercise 2. Feeding Individuals or Hydranths 

(c) Select a fully matured hydranth that is properly ex- 
panded and identify the parts as found in the hydra : body, 
hypostome, tentacles, enteric cavity, ectoderm, and endoderm. 
Notice that the body of the hydranth is continued downward 
as a slender stem, the ccenosarc, which is continuous with the 



The Obelia 49 

common coenosarc of the colony. The ectoderm, the endo- 
derm, and the cavity of the hydranth are thus continuous 
throughout the branched stem, and its root-like extensions. 

(d) The entire colony is protected and supported by a 
thin, transparent covering, the perisarc, which is not present 
in hydra. The perisarc of the stem is continued upward to form 
a cup-shaped hydrotheca about each hydranth. Notice the 
shelf-like expansion of the hydrotheca on which the hydranth 
rests; the ringed form of the perisarc just below the hydro- 
theca ; and certain places where the perisarc is greatly thick- 
ened. Draw a single hydranth, on a large scale, including its 
connection with the upright stem. 

Exercise 3. Reproductive Individuals — Blastostyles and 
their Medusae. 

(e) The blastostyles above noted are without mouths or 
tentacles. How are they nourished? The covering of a blasto- 
style is the gonotheca. How does it differ in shape from the 
hydrotheca? Attached to the blastostyle are numerous round- 
ed bodies, the medusa buds. A medusa bud when fully ma- 
tured becomes a medusa or jelly fish which is detached from 
the blastostyle and escapes into the water through an open- 
ing at the end of the gonotheca. The medusa may be con- 
sidered a third type of individual in the colony, which unlike 
the other two types (hydranths and blastostyles) is not a 
permanent part of the colony. What process in the hydra is 
comparable with the detachment of the medusa from its par- 
ent hydroid colony? Draw a single blastostyle on a large 
scale, showing its connection with the main stem and also the 
medusa buds in several stages. 

(f) Examine demonstrations of the medusae of obelia, in 
the stages just after detachment, when they are swimming 
freely in the water. In. the later stages of the medusae, re- 
productive organs appear, as may be seen in a large hydroid 
medusa such as the species Gonionemus murbachii. Draw the 
medusa of obelia. 



50 The Gonionemus 

Exercise 4. The Life-cycle 

(g) The obelia colonies reproduce only by the vegetative 
method — in this case by budding. They never have sexual or- 
gans as do hydras. The medusae, on the other hand, have sex- 
ual organs and reproduce by means of eggs and spermatozoa. 
The offspring produced by the medusae are not medusae, like 
their parents ; but are hydranths which, by extensive growth 
and buddings, develop into a colony like the one just studied. 
The life-history of obelia thus exhibits an alternation of gener- 
ations, since the attached hydroid colony alternates with the 
free-swimming, medusa. How could the life-cycle of an ex- 
tensively budding hydra be modified to give stages compara- 
ble with those in the life-cycle of obelia? Construct a table 
or a full page diagram comparing the life-cycles of the obelia 
and the hydra. 

III. A LARGE HYDRO-MEDUSA 
Exercise 5. Occurrence and Habits 

(a) The medusae of obelia are very small and not easily 
studied. The larger hydro-medusa Gonionemus murbachii, 
which is almost identical in structure and essentially like the 
obelia in its life-history, is a more favorable specimen. The 
preserved medusa may be studied, under water in a watch- 
glass, using handlens and lowest power of microscope. Handle 
the specimens carefully so as not to injure the fragile struc- 
tures. The appropriateness of the popular name "jellyfish" 
will now be appreciated. At the close of the period, return 
the specimen if it remains uninjured. 

(b) This medusa lives in the shallow water of protected 
inlets. It originated by detachment from a simple hydroid 
colony which is attached on the bottom. Compare with the 
life-cycle of obelia. In life the gonionemus is often seen 
"fishing" for its food by swimming up to the surface, turn- 
ing mouth side uppermost and slowly settling to the bottom 
with tentacles widely extended. If a small fish or similar ani- 
mal comes in contact with the tentacles it is quickly paralyzed 



The Gonionemus 51 

by nematocysts and drawn to the mouth. Individual medusae 
sometimes show the enteron above the hypostome greatly dis- 
tended with food. Compare with hydra. What part would be 
played by such a free living stage in the life-cycle of an at- 
tached animal? 

Exercise 6. Structure . 

(c) The medusa is umbrella-shaped with the hypostome in 
the position of a short, thick handle. The margin bears many 
tentacles which are well supplied with stinging cells. The 
velum is a circular shelf projecting inward from the mar- 
gin of the medusa, so that it partly closes the sub-umbrellar 
cavity. Notice the four, much convoluted sexual organs, 
ovaries or testes according to the sex. The hypostome is per- 
forated by the mouth which communicates with a stomach from 
which extend four radial canals, one above each sexual organ. 
The radial canals communicate with the circumferential canal, 
at the margin of the disc. At the base of each tentacle is a 
colored, eye spot. Between these organs, clear vesicles, the 
lithocysts or organs of equilibrium, may be seen with the 
compound microscope. The animal is covered on the outside 
with ectoderm, and the cavities entered through the mouth are 
lined with endoderm as in hydra. Between ectoderm and 
endoderm is a thick mass of "jelly", the mesoglcea, which cor- 
sponds to a much thickened supporting lamella such as is 
found in hydra. Make a drawing (x 4) of the animal as seen 
from the oral or concave side. Construct a diagrammatic 
vertical section (x 4) in the plane of two opposite radial 
canals. 



52 The Planakian Worm 



PARASITISM AND OTHER FORMS OF ASSOCIATION 
AMONG ANIMALS 

I. A PLANARIAN WORM 

PHYLUM, PLATODA. CLASS, TUEBELLAEIA 
Exercise 1. Observation of the Living Animal 

(a) Planarian worms are common in fresh-water, where 
they are most easily discovered on the under sides of leaves, 
stones and small objects upon the bottom. The species Plan- 
aria maculata is excellent material for the work here outlined 

(b) Examine in a watchglass of water. How does the 
animal move ? What changes in shape may the body undergo 
in "righting"? In meeting obstacles? In response to other 
stimuli? What is the shape and distinctive feature of each 
end? Are there sense organs? Can you find the mouth; and, 
in sexually mature animals, the genital aperture on the ventral 
side ? Transparent specimens will show the dendritic branches 
of the digestive system, the plan of which should be under- 
stood from chart or textbook figures. Place a small specimen 
upon a slide under a coverslip and look for cilia. Can you see 
the justification for applying the name turbellaria to these 
forms ? Study also the coloration under microscope and hand- 
lens. Draw the animal from a dorsal view (x 10), showing 
the above features. 

(c) Specimens will sometimes feed if crushed snails or bits 
of meat are placed in the dish. The muscular pharynx may 
then be seen. In this connection, their actions may be watched 
for evidence of a chemical sense. Interesting observations may 
also be made upon regeneration and upon their behavior with 
respect to light. Carry out such observations and experiments 
if you have time. 

(d) These worms are studied with a view to emphasizing 
their free-living condition. In nature, they move about ac- 
tively, often capturing living prey; and reproduce either 



A Fluke-Worm 53 

4 

vegetatively, by fission, or by means of germ-cells. They are 
hermaphroditic. The eggs are laid in small, stalked capsules 
which are attached to the under sides of the stones and other 
objects upon which the animals are living. From each of these 
capsules or eggshells a number of young emerge, as miniature 
adults, able at once to take up the life of the parent upon the 
bottom. Their life-cycle is thus in marked contrast with the 
life-cycles of the parasitic representatives of this phylum. 

II. A FLUKE-WORM 

PHYLUM, PLATODA. CLASS, TBEMATODA 
Exercise 2. Structure and Parasitism of the Adult Worm 

(e) To the trematoda belong the external and internal par- 
asites known as the fluke-worms. For this study, any species 
of the genera which resemble Distomum may be used. 
Specimens of the genus Pneumonceces, from the lungs of the 
frog, or of the genus Clinostomum, which is found in a some- 
what immature condition encysted in the ccelomic region of 
the frog, are excellent material. 

(f) Examine living or preserved specimens and locate the 
mouth and suckers. How does the shape and behavior, it 
specimens are observed alive, compare with the same in the 
planarian? Locate the digestive tract and compare with the 
planarian. The reproductive organs are complex and varied 
in appearance. If studied, special directions will be given. 
The animals are hermaphroditic and produce fertilized eggs 
which accumulate in a terminal portion of the female organs., 
the uterus, developing later when they are laid. The life-cycle 
is greatly complicated by the parasitism as described in lec- 
tures or textbook. Both in the structure and conditions of 
the life-cycle, contrasts should be drawn between the trematode 
and the planarian. Make a figure showing the features above 
noted. 



54 A Tape-Worm 



III. A TAPE-WORM 
PHYLUM, PLATODA. CLASS, CESTODA 
Exercise 3. The Adult Worm 

(g) The cestoda or tape-worms are parasitic forms, even 
more highly modified in relation to their parasitic habits than 
are the fluke-worms. The adults occur as parasites within 
the digestive tract of another animal ; the larval stages mostly 
within the tissues of a secondary host upon which the primary 
host is likely to feed. Species of the genus Taenia occur in 
many common mammals and are excellent for the study of 
the external features. They may be examined alive in water 
or after preservation in alcohol or formalin. 

(h) Examine an adult cestode in a pan of water. The 
smaller end has a head or scolex; the posterior end ripe joints 
or proglottids. What structures, adapted for holding fast 
to the host, are found upon the scolex? Count the proglottids, 
compare with numbers in neighboring specimens, and record. 
Can you see indications of the developing reproductive organs, 
and of the genital apertures? How and where do the pro- 
glottids seem to originate? Each proglottid contains a com- 
plete hermaphroditic reproductive system. The chain of pro- 
glottids may be regarded as a reduplication, many times over, 
of the reproductive machinery. If living worms are available, 
test the firmness of their attachment to the mucous membrane 
of the host. Why is it important that the adult cestode main- 
tain its place within its host? Compare the external features 
with those of other tape-worms shown as museum specimens. 
Moniezia expansa, from the sheep, and Crossobothrium lacin- 
iatum, from the sand-shark, are good for this purpose. Draw 
a good sized figure of the adult, indicating the parts as above 
and with the proglottids accurately shown. To avoid repe- 
tition, the figure may show representative regions connected 
by dotted outlines. 



A Tape-Worm 55 

Exercise 4. The Six-hooked Embryo 

(i) The "ripe" proglottids at the posterior end often show 
the outlines of the distended uterus, a cavity in which the 
development is begun. Here, the egg develops as far as the 
six-hooked embryo, a stage which may be obtained from either 
living proglottids or formalin material. Cut the proglottid 
into bits in a watchglass and examine some of the material 
under high power of the microscope. Embryos surrounded 
by a tough shell and other membranes will be found. Can you 
find the six hooks ? Is there any remnant of the yolk material ? 
If alive, crush by pressing on the cover and watch movements. 
Do they seem effective as boring movements? Can you make 
an estimate of the number of six-hooked embryos produced 
by a single cestode ? Draw showing these features. Size about 
two inches in diameter. 

Exercise 5. The Bladder-worm 

(j) The ripe proglottids, with their six-hooked embryos, 
break off and pass out with the feces of the host. The six- 
hooked embryos are discharged by the rupture or disinte- 
gration of the proglottid and find their way to the secondary 
host by the chances of nature, entering with the food or drink. 
After its membranes are digested in the stomach of this host, 
the six-hooked embryo bores out into the tissue and develops 
to a stage known as the bladder-worm. Examine living or 
preserved material and make out the scolex and neck and 
their peculiar position in the bladder. Can you see anything 
adaptive in this development of the scolex within the bladder ? 
Understand what happens when the bladder-worm is eaten by 
the primary host. Draw the bladder-worm, making a good 
sized figure. 

Exercise 6. The Internal Structure 

(k) If the internal structure of the proglottid is to be 
studied, excellent results may be obtained from the motile 
proglottids of Crossobothrium laciniatum stained with alum 



56 A Tape-Worm 

cochineal. Further explanations will be given in the labora- 
tory. 

(1) Other important features in the internal structure of 
the cestode, which may be noted in chart or textbook figures 
or in a further laboratory study are : the brain and nerve cords ; 
excretory system; absence of a gut; the granules of CaC0 3 ; 
and the cuticular membrane which covers the body. Are any 
of these features to be correlated with the parasitism? 

Exercise 7. Eepresentative Life-cycles 

(m) Tape-worms have two hosts. In the following cases 
of known life-cycles, which would be the primary and which 
the secondary host? Man — pig; dog — rabbit; mouse — cat; 
house-fly — hen; fish — bird; louse — dog; man — fish. Consider 
where and how each of the three stages would occur in each 
case. Tabulate your conclusions. 

IV. OTHER FORMS OF ASSOCIATION 
AMONG ANIMALS 

Exercise 8. Comparison between Parasitism and Commensa- 
tism, etc. 

(n) The platoda offer an excellent example of closely re- 
lated animals in the free living and in the parasitic state. 
From what you know regarding these and any other parasitic 
forms, write out a statement of the kind of modifications, in 
structure and life-history, likely to occur in animals which 
have assumed parasitic habits. Consider: cases of communal 
parasitism in insects, as explained elsewhere ; the striking 
cases of association occurring among marine animals, such as 
crabs, worms, and mollusca; and the whole in relation to 
lecture, textbook and field work bearing upon the inter-rela- 
tions among different species and the struggle for life. 



The Earthwokm 57 

THE EARTHWORM 

PHYLUM, ANNUATA. CLASS, OLIGOCH^TA 

I. BEHAVIOR AND EXTERNAL FEATURES 

Exercise 1. General Activities 

(a) The following directions apply to any of the species 
of Lumbricus. Place a vigorous, active worm upon wet filter 
paper in a dissecting pan and carefully observe the mode of 
locomotion. How does it elongate and contract? Can you see 
stiff spines projecting from the sides? Can they be drawn in? 
Is there a rhythm in these changes? Draw the worm through 
the fingers and feel the spines, or setae. How many are there 
on one ring? Place the worm on its back. Does it right 
itself? Will it crawl backwards? Compare the anterior and 
posterior ends, the dorsal and ventral, the right and left sides 
"Which are alike? Touch various parts of the worm to see 
which seem the most sensitive. Note the movements of the 
soft lobe, the prostomium, above the mouth. Qn the mid- 
dorsal line look for the blood vessel which shows through the 
skin. Does it pulsate? Which way does the blood move? 
Hold up the worm to the light and see the dark central axis 
which is the digestive tract with its contents. On the ventral 
side may be seen light colored swollen areas, the skin glands. 
Those on some segments may be associated with a smooth 
swollen band passing around the animal, the clitellum. On 
the 15th segment, swellings mark out transverse slits on each 
side, the openings of the vasa deferentia or ducts for the dis- 
charge of sperm. 

Exercise 2. External structure 

(b) For this study a preserved worm will be used. Ob- 
serve the structural features already observed in the living 
animal. Count the entire number of segments or somites and 
record, comparing with counts on neighboring specimens. 



58 The Earthworm 

What segments are occupied by the clitellum? By means of 
the handlens examined the setae in defferent regions. Locate 
the anus. Look on the 14th somite, near the ventral setae, 
for the minute openings of the oviducts. Make a figure (x2), 
showing the anterior end as far back as a point just behind the 
clitellum, from a ventral view. Number segments and locate 
all structures observed. Make a similar figure of the pos- 
terior end showing 10 segments from a ventral view. 

II. GENERAL INTERNAL STRUCTURE 
Exercise 3. The Digestive Tract and Coelome 

(a) Fasten down, dorsal side up, in a dissecting pan, by 
pinning through the first somite and again toward the pos- 
terior end. Make an incision about one and a half inches long, 
just back of the clitellum and on the mid-dorsal line, but do 
not cut too deep. Using fine scissors cut toward the head end 
with great care to cut no deeper than through the body wall 
and to keep on the dorsal mid-line. Spread out the edges of 
the cut body wall and pin them apart after breaking the trans- 
verse partitions, septa, which connect the inner surface of the 
wall and the outer surface of the gut. Slant the pins outward 
to give room for fingers and instruments in working. 

(b) You will now be able to see the brownish intestine 
and, on its upper surface, the large dorsal blood vessel. To- 
ward the head, the gut becomes differentiated and is partly 
hidden by other organs which will be indicated presently. 
Between the body wall and the digestive tract is a space, the 
body cavity or coelome. Thin lines pass from the digestive 
tract to the body wall across the body cavity. With the hand- 
lens and a needle, one may see and feel that these are the 
edges of the septa which divide the body cavity into chambers 
one behind the other. What is the relative position of septa 
and external rings? 

(c) Continue the cut forward as far as the second segment. 
Carefully separate the edges of the cut and see the different 
regions of the digestive tract. Identify the following, begin- 



.The Earthworm 59 

ning anteriorly : pharynx, oesophagus, crop, gizzard, and stom- 
ach-intestine. In the sexually mature animal there are large 
yellowish-white lobes in certain segments; these are the three 
pairs of seminal vesicles. They more or less hide the oesopha- 
gus. The so-called hearts are located in segments 7 to 11. 
These hearts are merely pairs of blood vessels which arise 
from the dorsal vessel and encircle the oesophagus in their 
passage to the median ventral blood vessel. On top of the di- 
gestive tract in segment 3 is a small white body, the brain. 
Spread out the body wall right and left and pin it to the wax, 
slanting the pins obliquely outward as before. In doing this, 
break or cut some of the septa with a needle or scissors. How 
do the anterior septa differ from the others? Have they 
any different use? In all but a few of the anterior chambers 
of the body cavity there are paired fluffy masses on each side. 
These are the nephridia or excretory organs. Look with a 
lens for fine blood vessels on these organs. Turning a part of 
the intestine to one side, you may be able to see that these fine 
vessels are connected with the median ventral vessel. Beneath 
the ventral vessel is a conspicuous band, the nerve cord. Cut 
the specimen open for its entire length and carefully separate 
the various organs to see them more clearly. Which segments 
are differentiated? "Which ones merely repetitions of similar 
organs. Make a full page diagram of the region from the 
prostomium to the beginning of the stomach-intestine to show 
all the organs thus far made out. The length of the segments 
may be exaggerated and the organs drawn as if separated by 
dissection. Number the segments and locate all the organs in 
their proper segments. 

(d) Lift up the oesophagus with forceps, carefully cutting 
its attachment to the septa. Cut it across near the pharynx 
and pull it gently back, while cutting off the septa. How are 
the seminal vesicles placed with reference to the oesophagus? 
Be careful not to remove the seminal vesicles from the worm 
while continuing to pull back the digestive tract and to cut 
the septa. Continue this as far back as the beginning of the 
stomach-intestine; and so lift up and remove from the worm 



60 The Earthworm 

the oesophagus, crop, gizzard and part of the intestine in one 
piece. Examine this removed portion of the tract under water 
and correct any errors in your previous drawing. Find the 
calciferous glands, three pairs of lateral pouches on the 
oesophagus in the region hidden by the seminal vesicles. 

Exercise 4. The Coelomic Fluid 

(e) Clean a slide and cover and, with the aid of an in- 
structor, draw out a drop of the coelomic fluid from a living 
worm by means of a capillary pipette. Place immediately 
upon the slide, adding salt solution if necessary, and examine 
with high power. Find the cells of the coelomic fluid. What 
are their characteristic activities? What organism do they re- 
semble? Have they nuclei? Draw, showing characteristic 
shapes. Size one to two inches across cell. 

Exercise 5. The Excretory Organs 

(f) Using fine scissors, remove a part of a septum with a 
nephridium attached and examine under low and high power. 
The nephridium is a convoluted tube with interlacing blood 
vessels. Look for the ciliated funnel, or nephrostome. Un- 
derstand the function and manner of action of the nephridium. 
With the aid of an instructor, obtain a bit of a living nephrid- 
ium, or better, one that is complete. Look for the peculiar 
flickering movement of the cilia within the tubule and study 
this with the high power. Draw the nephridium in whole or 
in part as observed. 

Exercise 6. The Reproductive System 

(g) The earthworm is an hermaphroditic animal, that is 
one in which male and female reproductive organs are found 
in the same individual. The female system consists of ova- 
ries, oviducts, and seminal receptacles; the male system of 
testes, seminal vesicles, and vasa deferentia. 

(h) Wash off the region of the reproductive organs by 
gentle currents from a pipette, and then examine the posterior 
face of the septum between segments 12 and 13. Under a 
handlens, the two ovaries may be seen lying one on either side 
and near the nerve cord. Immediately behind each ovary is 



The Earthworm 61 

an oviduct, seen as a whitish area on the front face of the 
septum between segments 13 and 14, and in segment 14 as a 
fine cord which is very short and passes diagonally outward to 
its place of exit on the ventral body wall. Locate these parts 
without pulling away the remains of septa and nephridia and 
then make them more clear by gently pulling or cutting any 
tissue which renders them obscure. Examine a model and 
understand how the eggs pass from ovary to oviduct. 

(i) Examination of the seminal vesicles, which should still 
be uninjured, will show that the three lobes which extended 
up on either side of the oesophagus are united by a common 
median region which lies below the gut and against the ven- 
tral body wall. A little picking away of this middle region 
will disclose four large bodies, rather indistinct in outline, 
but different in texture from the vesicles and resembling 
crumpled bits of paper. These are really greatly modified 
funnels which lie at the beginning of the male ducts, or vasa 
deferentia. Looking on the ventral body wall and outside the 
seminal vesicles, it is possible to find a fine duct running out 
laterally from the region of each funnel. The two on a side 
unite and pass straight back to the opening of the vas defer- 
ens on segment 15. By means of these funnels and ducts the 
sperms pass out of the seminal vesicles. The sperm funnels 
really open within the closed cavity of the seminal vesicles. 
The sperms, originate from the testes, bodies somewhat similar 
to the ovaries and in the same relative position in segments 10 
and 11. Although the testes lie close to the openings of the 
sperm funnels, the sperms upon dropping from the testes do 
not at once enter the funnels, but pass up into the lobes of 
the seminal vesicles where they develop to mature spermatozoa, 
which are then ready to enter the funnels and vasa deferentia 
and so pass to the outside. The four testes and the four fun- 
nels have therefore a relation to the coelome similar to the 
ovaries and their oviducts, while the seminal vesicles by en- 
closing both testes and funnels in a common cavity prevent 
the spermatozoa from entering the coelome and furnish a 
cavity in which the spermatozoa complete their development. 



62' The Earthwokm 

(j) The seminal receptacles, which should not be confused 
with the seminal vesicles, are small whitish bodies attached to 
the ventral body wall on either side in the region of segments 
9, 10 and 11. They open to the outside only, and their func- 
tion is to retain the spermatozoa obtained, during copulation, 
from another worm. 

(k) Consult a model, or a figure of the entire system, and 
then construct a large semi-diagrammatic figure showing all 
these parts. Eeview their relationships by tracing the course 
of the ova and spermatozoa from their origin to the external 
openings of oviducts and vasa deferentia. 

(1) Carefully cut out one of the ovaries and transfer to 
a slide. Add a drop of glycerine, put on a cover and study un- 
der the low power. The ova will be seen in various stages of 
development. Where are they most advanced? The largest 
ones show clearly a nucleus and nucleolus. Make a draw- 
ing two or three inches in length showing the entire ovary. 

(m) Understand from lectures and textbook the function- 
ing of the various parts in copulation and egg laying. Exam- 
ine again the clitellum, and the markings which extend for- 
ward from this to the openings of the vasa deferentia and 
the external openings of the oviducts. 

Exercise 7. The Nervous System 

(n) Lift the posterior end of the pharynx with forceps and 
cut the muscles that connect it with the body wall. Trace 
the nerve cord anteriorly and find where it divides into right 
and left branches which encircle the pharynx and unite in 
the brain. Look for the nerves from the brain and from the 
collar-like connectives around the pharynx. Determine the 
number and place of exit of the nerves arising from the ventral 
cord in the region just back of the "collar" and in the body 
at posterior end. Cut across the nerve cord in mid-body region 
and remove a bit of it by tearing out with a quick pull of the 
forceps. This piece may help you to determine the number of 
nerves per segment. Make a diagram (x 5) of the nervous sys- 
tem from a dorsal or a lateral view. Indicate the relation of 
the nerves to the segments. 



The Earthworm 63 



III. THE STRUCTURE AS SHOWN BY SECTIONS 

Exercise 8. The Gross Structure 

(a) Take a piece of an undissected specimen about an 
inch in length and using a sharp pair of scissors, cut trans- 
verse sections about one segment in thickness. Study under 
water with the handlens and make out the position of gut, 
coelome, nephridia, septa, nerve cord, blood vessels, etc. Can 
you distinguish different layers in body and gut walls? No- 
tice the typhlosole, a fold of the dorsal wall of the gut. How 
may it be of importance in digestion and absorption? Make 
a drawing about three inches across, which will show the struc- 
tures appearing in the region midway between septa. 

Exercise 9. The Cellular Structure 

(b) Study mounted sections of this same region. Examine 
first with handlens and then with the low power to make out 
the appearance of the parts. Then study the cellular struc- 
ture of each part with the high power. 

(c) In the body wall there are four cellular layers : (1) 
The epidermis, composed of columnar epithelial cells, some ol 
which are gland cells in various stages of activity. Covering 
the outer surface of these cells, is a continuous membrane, the 
cuticle, of non-cellular nature and produced as a secretion 
from the epidermis. (2) A layer of muscle fibers which en- 
circle the body and are, therefore, cut lengthwise in this sec- 
tion. Are nuclei and blood vessels discernable? (3) Muscles 
running in a longitudinal direction constitute the next and 
thickest layer of the body wall. They are so arranged as to 
have a feather-like appearance when the groups of fibers are 
seen in this section. (4) The innermost layer is the peri- 
toneum, the lining of the body cavity. It is a single layer of 
squamous epithelium, which in favorable sections may show 
cell outlines and nuclei. 

(d) In the intestine there are three chief layers: (1) The 
innermost, the mucous membrane, of very narrow columnar 
cells. Do they bear cilia? (2) The outermost, the chlorogogue 



64 The Earthwokm 

layer, appears as a granular mass which may be resolved into 
much modified columnar cells of varying length. (3) The 
middle layer, a narrow band of muscle fibers, both longitudinal 
and circular. 

(e) Examine the section as a whole. The typhlosole will 
again be recognized. What is the condition of the three main 
layers in this region of the gut? The region of the coelome 
is likely to be confusing, because of the irregular manner in 
which the septa and nephridia are cut. Try to understand 
these parts and why they appear as they do in your section. 
Locate the dorsal, ventral, sub-neural, and lateral neural blood 
vessels. 

(f) Draw on a large scale a narrow strip of the body wall 
to show the cellular structure of each of the foregoing layers, 
and on the same page a similar part of the intestine located 
in the right position relative to the body wall. Add anything 
made out in the coelome. 

(g) Study the nerve cord in the above section and note: 
The outer layer, containing muscle fibers; the three large, 
clear areas on the dorsal side, the giant fibers; the nerve 
fibers of the main mass; and the ganglion cells. Understand 
from lectures or textbook the nature of the connections be- 
tween the cells of the nervous system. Make a drawing of 
the nerve cord as seen in cross section. Size about two by 
three inches. 

Exercise 10. Comparison of the Cell-layers and Tissues in 
Frog and Earthworm 

(h) Compare layer for layer the body and intestinal walls 
of the earthworm with corresponding parts of the frog. Con- 
struct a table showing: the names of the several layers of 
each ; and the kinds of cells of which each layer is composed. 
What do you regard as the fundamental differences between 
the body-plan of an invertebrate and that of a vertebrate, as 
shown by cross sections' of frog and earthworm? What im- 
portant features are common to both? 



The Locust 65 

THE INSECTS 

PHYLUM, AETHEOPODA. CLASS, INSECTA OE HEXAPODA 

I. THE GRASSHOPPER OR LOCUST 

Exercise 1. Observations upon the Living Animals 

(a) The grasshoppers and locusts are the most common 
representatives of the order Orthoptera, and any large speci- 
men of several species, which are common locally, may be 
used. Living individuals should be observed in glass jars, con- 
taining grass and covered with a screen. Exactly how are the 
legs used in walking and jumping? The spiracles, or respira- 
tory openings will be seen along the sides of the abdomen. 
Observe and time the intervals between the respiratory move- 
ments. Note the nature and the distribution of color upon the 
animal. Can you suggest any value which this may have for 
the animal in nature? Offer bits of green vegetation to the 
specimens in the jars and see what you can make out regarding 
their mode of feeding. Touch the "feelers", antennas, of the 
head with a long piece of glass tubing having a plug of ab- 
sorbent cotton in the end and observe how sensitive to touch 
are these organs as compared with other parts of the body. 
Moisten the absorbent cotton with some strong-smelling fluid 
and bring it near the antennae without touching them. Can 
the animal smell with these organs or with any other part of 
the body? Remove a specimen from the jar and examine the 
parts at closer range. Look at the compound eyes, the an- 
tennae, etc., with the lens. Note the "molasses" which is 
regurgitated from the mouth. This is a digestive fluid mingled 
with food. If a good-sized drop can be collected from one or 
more specimens and placed upon a slide, put a bit of fresh, 
green vegetation in this and note result before the fluid 
evaporates. "What may be the significance of this habit of re- 
gurgitating the contents of the digestive tract? If you have 
time, devise experiments to determine whether temperature, 



66 The Locust 

or sensations akin to fear in the higher animals influence the 
rate of the respiratory movements. 

Exercise 2. The General External Features 

(b) The body of the grasshopper has three main divisions: 
the head; the thorax, which bears the legs; the abdomen, 
which is without appendages. Each of these divisions is made 
made up of a number of more or less well-defined rings called 
segments. The outer covering or exoskeleton protects the in- 
ternal organs and serves as a place of attachment for the mus- 
cles. The exoskeleton is composed of a horny substance called 
chitin. Bend the animal and observe that the exoskeleton is 
not absent but only thinner at the joints, both in the body and 
in the legs. The entire outer surface of the animal is thus 
covered by a continuous armor-like skeleton. The skeleton of 
each segment is composed of two chief parts : the tergum, or 
dorsal part, and the sternum, or ventral part. Compare this 
sort of skeleton with that of the frog or man, which is an in- 
ternal, or endoskeleton. 

(c) The body consists of three main regions: the head; 
thorax ; and abdomen. Though the head is made up of several 
segments, they are so closely united that they cannot be dis- 
tinguished. On the head are two large compound eyes. Ex- 
amine the surface of one of them with a handlens and see that 
it is divided into a large number of small areas, each cor- 
responding to one of the small independent visual units of 
which the large eye is composed. There are also three simple 
eyes, or ocelli, which may be seen with the lens : one of them 
just in front and near the top of each compound eye ; the third 
one in the median line between the bases of the feelers. The 
skeleton of the top and front of the head is the epicranium. 
Below this is the clypeus from which is suspended the labrum 
or upper lip. The side of the head below the compound eye 
is the gena. The head bears four pairs of appendages which 
will be studied in greater detail later: (1) the feelers, or an- 
tennae; (2) the mandibles, or jaws, which are covered by 
the labrum and partially exposed on either side of the head 



The Locust 67 

just below the genge; (3) the maxillae, each of which bears 
a short jointed feeler of palp; (4) the labium, or lower lip, 
which also bears a pair of short palps. 

(d) The thorax includes three segments: the prothorax, 
mesothorax, and metathorax, each of which bears a pair of 
legs. The tergum of the prothorax has the form of a hood 
which extends backward some distance over the mesothorax. 
Each leg of the grasshopper has the following five divisions : 
the coxa, a short segment by which the leg articulates with 
the body; the trochanter, also a short segment (not distinct 
in the large jumping leg) ; the femur, a long segment; the 
tibia, a long segment bearing spines ; the tarsus, which is di- 
vided into several parts and which ends in a pair of hooks 
and a little pad. Cut into the femur of one of the large jump- 
ing legs and see the muscles. The thorax, bears two pairs of 
wings, a pair of tough, thick ones and a pair of thin mem- 
branous ones. On which segments are they? 

(e) The abdomen includes ten segments and is without ap- 
pendages. Segments 2 — 7 in the female, and 2 — 8 in the male, 
are complete rings and essentially alike. The first segment 
is interrupted at the sides by a backward extension of the 
metathorax which bears the third pair of legs. The dorsal por- 
tion of the first segment bears the tympanic membrane, a 
sense organ whose function is supposedly auditory; its ven- 
tral part is only indistinctly separated from the metathorax. 
The terga of the ninth and tenth segments are very narrow 
and only partially separated from each other. Just back of 
the tenth tergum is the dorsal plate, beneath the tip of which 
is the anus. At the sides of the dorsal plate are the two tri- 
angular podical plates, and at the base of each of these a small 
projection, the cercus. In other respects, the terminal portion 
of the abdomen is different in the two sexes. In the female, 
the abdomen terminates in two pairs of stout, pointed struc- 
tures which form the ovipositor, used for digging the holes in 
the ground in which the eggs are laid. In the male, the sternum 
of the ninth segment is prolonged backward and upward as, 
the genital plate. 



68 The Locust 

(f) On each of the first eight abdominal segments is a 
pair of spiracles, the openings of the internal tracheae or re- 
spiratory tubes. These are seen along the sides of the abdo- 
men on the ridge between the sternum and the tergum. The 
spiracle on the first segment is just in front of the tympanic 
membrane. There are two pairs of spiracles on the thorax, 
located in the thin membrane between the segments. 

(g) Make a large drawing of the insect as seen from the 
side. Spread out the wings above the back in such a position 
as to show their size and shape ; arrange the legs in about the 
position they would assume when at rest; number the seg- 
ments of the abdomen and label all structures. 

(h) Make a drawing of the head as seen from directly in 
front. 

Exercise 3. The Appendages About the Mouth 

(i) Remove the labrum and clypeus, and thus expose the 
mandibles, the large jaws of the insect. Each mandible is a 
heavy, strong structure with black edges armed with teeth. 
The jaws of insects were evolved from structures correspond- 
ing to the legs. In the development of the insect, the jaws 
arise in the same manner as the legs, but are modified for a 
different use. It is for this reason that the grasshopper has 
right and left jaws, moving laterally, instead of upper and 
lower jaws as in the animals with which you are familiar. 
Separate the two mandibles a little at the tips with a needle 
or the point of a scalpel; and sketch the lower part of the 
face as seen from the front to show the mandibles. Remove 
the right mandible, by inserting the point of a scalpel between 
the gena and the base of the mandible. Sketch the appendage 
as seen after removal. 

(j) Back of the mandibles are two other pairs of appen- 
dages : the maxillae, a pair of more delicate jaws ; and the 
labium, which serves as the lower lip. Each maxilla has a 
basal portion which bears three other parts : (1) a short feeler 
or palp ; (2) the galea, a curved part with a rounded end ; (3) 
the lacinia, a curved part which ends in some sharp, black 



The Locust 69 

teeth. The labium has a basal portion, which bears two 
palps; and a flattened medial portion, which is partially di- 
vided into right and left halves. The labium is in reality com- 
posed of two appendages (right and left) which have become 
partly united in the median line. Compare in this respect, 
with maxillae, mandibles, antennas, and walking legs. Ke- 
move the right maxilla by grasping it at the base with forceps 
and carefully pulling it away. Draw this appendage on the 
same scale as used for mandible. Eemove and draw the la- 
bium. 

Exercise 4. General Internal Structure 

(k) Expose the internal organs by removing the tergum 
from thorax and abdomen in the following manner : Cut off 
the legs. With scissors cut through the exoskeleton along 
either side of thorax and abdomen just above line of spira- 
cles, being careful not to cut deep enough to injure internal 
structures. Carefully remove the piece thus cut loose, and 
before discarding it, look for the heart which usually comes 
off attached to dorsal mid-line. If the thin mass of muscles 
which clings to the piece in the abdominal region is stripped 
by grasping with forceps at the posterior end and pulling for- 
ward, the heart will be seen as a delicate tube lying upon the 
dorsal surface of the muscles. How far can you trace the 
heart anteriorly? Cut off also the top of the head nearly as 
far down as the bases of the antennae, being careful not to 
break the head from the body. Pin the animal down under 
water by two pins through the bases of the jumping legs, and 
keep it under water for the following dissections of the in- 
ternal organs. 

(1) In the thorax and anterior part of the abdomen the 
digestive tract is now exposed. In the posterior part of the 
body the larger portions of the reproductive organs occupy a 
dorsal and lateral position and hide the digestive tract. These 
organs are somewhat obscured by the lace-like fat-body which 
should be carefully picked away from the top of digestive and 
reproductive organs. 



70 The Locust 

Exercise 5. The Reproductive Organs 

(m) If the specimen is a female, the ovaries will be seen as 
a large mass containing many good-sized, elongated eggs. If 
it is a male, the testes will form a compact mass in the pos- 
terior part of the abdomen. In both sexes the ducts from 
right and left reproductive glands unite below the digestive 
tract and discharge through an opening at the tip of the 
abdomen. These features are not easy to study, and the re- 
productive organs may now be removed so that the digestive 
tract may be more fully exposed. 

Exercise 6. The Respiratory Organs 

(n) The respiratory organs of insects are air tubes called 
tracheae, which open to the outside by means of the spiracles, 
which have been previously observed on the outer surface 
of the body. The tracheae may be seen as silvery-white tubes 
on the surface of the digestive tract, if they contain air, but 
if they contain fluid they will be hard to see. Examine them 
carefully with a lens. Press the digestive tract to one side 
and find some of the larger tracheal tubes as they cross from 
the internal organs to the spiracles in the body wall. You 
may also see air sacs among the internal organs. Take a bit 
of muscle from one of the legs of the insect, mount on a slide 
in water, and study with the compound microscope. Notice 
the muscle fibers and the fine, branching tracheae. Minute 
branches of the air tubes thus extend to all parts of the body, 
bringing the air directly to the cells. Compare the manner of 
distributing oxygen in frog and grasshopper. Make a. draw- 
ing of part of such a preparation. 

Exercise 7. The Excretory Organs 

(o) On the surface of the digestive tract in the abdominal 
region notice the small, crooked tubes, which are likely to be 
so numerous as to form a felt-work. Use the lens to distin- 
guish between these and the silvery-white tracheae with which 
they are interlaced. These are the malphigian tubes, the ex- 
cretory organs of the animal. Where do they connect with 
the digestive tract? 



The Locust 71 

Exercise 8. The Digestive Organs 

(p) The digestive tract has the following parts: the 
mouth; the oesophagus, which lies in the head and cannot be 
fully seen until later; the crop, an enlarged portion in the 
thorax ; several pairs of pouches, the gastric caeca, which sur- 
round the gut and discharge a digestive juice into it just back 
of the crop; the stomach, which extends from the crop back 
to the place where the malphigian tubes join the tract; the in- 
testine, from this point to the anus. The intestine has a more 
slender part, called the colon, near its middle ; and terminates 
in a larger part, the rectum. Make a large drawing of the di- 
gestive tract as seen from the side, surrounded by an outline 
of the entire animal. 

Exercise 9. The Nervous System 

(q) Remove the digestive tract by cutting it across at the 
oesophagus and the rectum. The nervous system, which lies 
along the mid-ventral line, may now be exposed by picking 
away the other tissues. The nervous system consists of masses 
called ganglia, connected with each other by a longitudinal 
nerve trunk. Each ganglion gives off nerves to surrounding 
parts of the body. There are, in reality, ten pairs of gang- 
lia, since the apparently single ganglionic masses are each 
composed of a right and a left ganglion fused together. Hence 
the nervous system consists of pairs of ganglia, united by trans- 
verse fusions, the commissures, between the members of a pair, 
and by longitudinal unions between successive pairs, the con- 
nectives. Nine of the ten pairs of ganglia lie along the mid- 
ventral lines close to the exoskeleton. The remaining pair con- 
stitutes the brain, which lies in the front of the head close to 
the bases of the antennae sending large nerves to the com- 
pound eyes and smaller ones to the ocelli and the antennae. 
Of the ventral ganglionic masses, five are in the abdomen, three 
in the thorax, and one in the head. The one in the head is 
termed the sub-cesophageal because of its relation to the oesoph- 
agus. It is hidden by skeletal structures and is very diffi- 
cult to dissect out; but the connectives between it and the 



72 Miscellaneous Insects 

brain, and between it and the first thoracic ganglion will be 
easily found. Such a nervous system is characteristic of the 
entire phylum to which the grasshopper belongs, and also of 
the segmented worms like the earthworms. Compare its posi- 
tion and structure with the nervous system of the frog or 
man. Draw the nervous system from a dorsal view, including 
an outline of the body and placing each ganglion accurately in 
its proper segment. 

MISCELLANEOUS INSECTS 

II. THE BEETLES. 

Exercise 10. External Features 

(a) Any large beetle will do for this study, provided it is 
not too highly modified. By examining the animal from the 
ventral side locate the head, thorax and abdomen and the 
number of segments visible in each. Look for antennae, com- 
pound eyes, ocelli, mandibles and other mouth parts, the anus 
and the thoracic legs, and compare with what you have found 
in the grasshopper. Where are the wing covers and the wings ? 
When the latter are found see how they fold up beneath their 
covers. Fasten down, dorsal side up, by pinning through the 
prothoracic segment, spread one wing cover out at right angles 
and unfold the corresponding wing which can be spread in 
the angle between the wing cover and abdomen. Raise the 
head, if it bends too far ventrally, and spread out the three 
legs on the side where wing and cover are closed. Draw the 
specimen from this view and on such a scale as to make the 
figure three or four inches long. Show the plates of the skele- 
ton with care and number the segments of thorax and abdo- 
men. 

Exercise 11. Larval Stages 

(b) In the larva of a beetle find the main divisions of the 
body, head, thorax and abdomen ; mouth with its jaws ; and the 
anus. Count the number of segments comparing with adult 
of the same species. Draw such a larva from a lateral view- 
showing these parts on a scale of 3 or 4. 



Miscellaneous Insects 73 

(c) Examine, as directed by instructor, such living speci- 
mens of beetles and their larvae as are available for individual 
study or demonstration. 

III. THE WASPS AND THEIR ALLIES 
Exercise 12. External Features 

(a) "Wasps of the genus Polistes are very common and are 
easily collected when they enter unscreened buildings with the 
approach of cooler weather in the fall. Head, thorax and 
abdomen will again be recognized as in the case of the other 
insects. How many segments in each? Look for antennae, 
compound eyes, ocelli, mouth parts and anus. At the pos- 
terior end of the female is the sting. The spiracles are a row 
of minute dots on each side of the abdomen. Compare the 
divisions of the thorax and of each of the legs with the cor- 
responding parts of the grasshopper. To which segments are 
the wings attached? Draw a side view with wings spread dor- 
sally, on a scale of 3 or 4. 

Exercise 13. Nests and Larval Stages 

(b) Examine the "paper" nests of this wasp and others if 
available. Also artificial ant's nests and the eggs and larvae 
recently taken from an ant colony. The most remarkable 
facts regarding the hymenoptera are those connected with 
their social life in such, colonies, a matter which will be dis- 
cussed in lectures or textbook. 

IV. THE BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS 

Exercise 14. External Features 

(a) Examine a good-sized butterfly, or moth, going over 
the features noted for other forms (the three main divisions of 
the body, eyes, antennae, mouth parts, t legs and wings). Mount 
some of the dust from the wing surface and examine under a 
microscope. What is the significance of the term "lepidop- 
tera"? Draw the entire animal from a dorsal view, with 



74 Miscellaneous Insects 

wings spread, making the figure three or four inches across. 
Omit color pattern. 

Exercise 15. The Life-cycle 

(b) If available, the eggs of butterflies or moths will be 
shown as a demonstration. Understand to what species such 
eggs belong and where they are laid. 

(c) Examine now a larva which is large and favorable for 
study. Where are the head, thorax and abdomen? Do you 
find thoracic legs ? There are other pairs of appendages some- 
what like them and known as prolegs. How many are there 
and what is their structure as compared with the thoracic 
legs? Are there eyes, ocelli, antennae and mouth parts as in 
other forms? Do you find spiracles? Draw a side view on a 
large scale. 

(d) If it is the proper season, the larva? of various forms 
will be placed in the laboratory for individual study or dem- 
onstration. Observe the way of moving and their voracious 
habits in feeding. How does the structure and use of the 
mouth parts differ in larva and adult? At the proper season, 
caterpillars will often spin their coccoons in the cages where 
they are kept, or such coccoons may be collected and given out 
for study. Cut one open and find the resting stage, pupa, 
within. Notice the silk of which the coccoon is composed. Such 
coccoons if uninjured may be kept in cages and the emergence 
of the adult insect observed at some subsequent time. 

(e) Understand the complete life-history in each of the 
groups thus far studied and be able to explain the difference 
between direct development as in the grasshopper and the 
indirect development or metamorphosis as found in the but- 
terflies, beetles, etc. 



Mitosis 75 



V. OTHER ORDERS 

Exercise 16. Examination of Museum Specimens and Spe- 
cial Assignments 

(a) Of the remaining orders of the Insecta, three are more 
commonly known and recognized by popular names. These 
are : the Hemiptera, or true bugs ; the Diptera or two-winged 
flies, of which the house fly is our most common representa- 
tive; and- the Odonata or dragon flies. Representatives of 
these and of their larvae will be placed in the laboratory for 
demonstration and supplied to individuals if called for. 

(b) The life-history and habits of insects presents much 
which is even more profitable for study than the points hereto- 
fore covered, but such work is difficult to handle properly with 
large classes and at fixed periods. Suggestions and assign- 
ments will, however, be made upon request to the instructor 
in charge and facilities for carrying on such work either at 
home or in the laboratory will be provided. 

MITOSIS 

CELL DIVISION 
Exercise 1. Typical Mitotic Division 

(a) The finer details of cell division must, of course, be 
studied with the very highest magnifications, but the more 
general features may be examined with the high powers ordi- 
narily used in a course of this nature. Mitotic or indirect cell 
division appears to be the common method by which cells di- 
vide. The amitotic or direct mode of division seems to be of 
less importance and its significance is still a matter of doubt. 
For the study outlined below, sections of growing onion root 
tips or the epithelium of salamander larvae may be used. 

(b) Examine the sections with low power to understand the 
relation of the parts. Then with highest powers look for cells. 
in different stages of division, showing the chromatin in the 



76 Maturation and Fertilization 

form of chromosomes. Examine chart or textbook diagrams of 
mitosis, and determine which phase of the process is repre- 
sented by each cell found in division. Determine, if possible, 
the number of chromosomes in each cell. 

(c) Construct six cell-outlines for figures showing consecu- 
tive stages. Then put in the details as you find good ex- 
amples of the several steps in the process. Have the series in 
order when completed, but do not try to find them in this order. 
Rather, take representative cells as found in searching over 
the slide and draw into their proper place in the series. 

(d) The following terms have come into use for designat- 
ing the stages in cell division : 

Prophase. The division and migration of the centrosome 
and formation of the spindle, the assumption by the chro- 
matin of thread-like aggregates which segment into chromo- 
somes, and the arrangement of the chromosomes into an equa- 
torial plate. 

Metaphase. The lengthwise splitting of the chromosomes. 

Anaphase. The divergence of the chromosomes into the two 
daughter groups, and the division of the cytoplasm. 

Telophase. The appearance of a nuclear membrane in each 
daughter cell, and the reconstruction of the nucleus to its 
typical resting condition. 

(e) See that all the structures indicated above are properly 
labeled. Test your understanding of the spatial relations of 
parts by seeing whether you can readily interpret sections cut 
at irregular angles. 

MATURATION AND FERTILIZATION 

Exercise 2. The Maturation Divisions 

(a) Demonstrations may be examined showing: (1) polar 
bodies, in superficial view; and (2) the reduction divisions 
of the oocytes and spermatocytes, in sections. Understand the 
universal occurrence of this process and its relation to fer- 
tilization and the number of chromosomes. 



Development of Echinodekms 77 

Exercise 3. Fertilization 

(b) Examine demonstrations showing the entrance of the 
sperm and the conjugation of male and female pronuclei to 
form the cleavage nucleus in the egg of an echinoderm or 
other favorable material. 

DEVELOPMENT OF ECHINODERMS 

Exercise 1. The Cleavage, Gastrula and Blastula Stages 

(a) The eggs and spermatozoa of many marine animals are 
laid directly into the water where they meet in fertilization. 
Such eggs are usually small, having but little yolk. They de- 
velop rapidly into feeding larvae, which swim for a time, and 
then take up the life of the parent upon the bottom. Because 
of the ease with which they can be provided with their normal 
environment, these eggs are particularly favorable for experi- 
mental studies and have become classic material for the study 
of fertilization, artificial parthenogenesis, cleavage, and the 
like. 

(b) Examine stained material permanently mounted or in 
clearing fluid, showing cleavage, blastula and gastrula stages 
in the egg of the starfish or sea-urchin. Note the egg mem- 
brane, sometimes showing the heads of many spermatozoa 
which failed to enter. The two-, four-, eight-cell, and later 
cleavage stages on to the blastula or hollow sphere stage, will 
be recognized. Find stages of the blastula,- showing the in- 
gression of mesenchyme cells at one pole. Is the wall of the 
blastula of uniform thickness? Can you recognize, even dur- 
ing the blastula stage, the region that will invaginate to form 
the next stage, the gastrula, in which the primitive gut cavity 
or archenteron is formed? Its opening is the blastopore. The 
process of invagination is termed gastrulation. The germ-lay- 
ers, ectoderm and endoderm, have now been formed. The 
mesenchyme cells noted above and other cells which arise from 
the blind end of the archenteron constitute the mesoderm. 
Make a series of outline figures illustrating the foregoing. 
Size about two inches in diameter. 



78 Development of the Frog 

Exercise 2. The Larva and its Metamorphosis 

(c) As development proceeds, the blastopore of the gas- 
trala becomes the anus of the larva. The mouth is formed by an 
invagination, the stomodeeum, which unites with the blind 
end of the archenteron. Examine demonstrations. A larva 
which is strikingly bilateral results. From this, by a curious 
metamorphosis, the radially symmetrical adult is formed. The 
existence of such a larva constitutes the main evidence for 
the belief that the present radially symmetrical echinoderms 
have descended from bilaterally symmetrical ancestors. Com- 
pare with the inferences drawn from the existence of fish-like 
stages in frog and chick. 

THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE LEOPARD FROG 

I. BREEDING HABITS 
Exercise 1. Collection and Study of Living Material 

(a) The frogs and salamanders lay their eggs in spring 
and early summer, the period of laying being as definite a 
characteristic of the species as any other form of behavior. If 
this study is made during the laying season, go out and collect 
eggs for yourself, examining the breeding places and studying 
the activities of the animals under natural conditions. Are 
there any easily recognizable differences between males and 
females? Do frogs croak or "sing" more at this season? Why? 

(b) Take home a mass of living eggs you have yourself col- 
lected or have obtained from the laboratory. Place in a shal- 
low dish and keep in a well-lighted place, but not exposed to 
direct sunlight for much of the day. Record the stage of the 
eggs when obtained and note their progress from day to day. 
Preserve your notes in the form of a written report to be 
handed in later. The influence of temperature upon the rate 
of development can be tested by placing part of the eggs out 
of doors on the cool north side of a building and comparing 
them each day with those having sun and the warmth of in- 



Development of the Frog 79 

doors. With proper care the animals may be kept until the 
tadpoles have completed their metamorphosis. At no time 
should the water in the dish be allowed to become too low 
from evaporation or to become foul from the growth of bac- 
teria. Green water plants will be beneficial, unless growing 
in too dense masses. When the tadpoles are fully formed, they 
may be fed upon bread or cracker crumbs, but too much of 
this food will foul the water and care must be used. 

(c) Examine living frogs, toads, and salamanders in the 
laboratory or field. Make a table giving common and scien- 
tific name of each species and the characteristics of its egg 
mass. 

II. THE UNFERTILIZED EGG OR OVUM 
Exercise 2. The Ovarian Egg 

(a) Examine in a watchglass of water a small mass of eggs 
from the ovary of a frog preserved in formalin. Look with 
handlens and lowest power of compound microscope for the 
smaller eggs among the larger ones of the present season. 
Some of the former will show, when examined under low power 
of the compound microscope, a nucleus and a small amount of 
cytoplasm. The larger eggs are opaque and their internal 
structure cannot be seen in this material. They are single cells 
like the smaller ones ; but have grown large, as a result of the 
yolk material which is laid down in their cytoplasm. The egg 
in these stages before fertilization is termed the ovum. Draw 
one or more of these smaller ova, showing the parts in out- 
line only. 

(b) Examine a permanently mounted and stained section 
of the ovary in a young frog. In addition to the structures 
observed in (a), this will show the follicle cells surrounding 
each ovum. Add these to your drawing. 

(c) Remove a single large ovum from the ovary of a re- 
cently killed frog; and, after crushing on a slide under a 
cover slip, examine with a high power. What is the physical 
nature of the protoplasm? Observe the numerous yolk bodies. 



80 Development of the Fkog 

Can you discover any structure which foreshadows that of 
the tadpole or frog? Eecord or draw. 

III. THE SPERMATOZOON 

Exercise 3. The Sperm Cells within the Testis 

(a) Spermatozoa may be secured by cutting a testis into 
small bits and teasing in water. Examine the fluid under 
compound microscope; and look for elongated bodies, the 
sperms or spermatozoa. Each consists of an enlarged portion 
containing the nucleus, and an elongated thread-like flagellum, 
Do the sperms move about? During the breeding season ac- 
tive or ''ripe" sperms will be found. As in the case of the 
ovum, the spermatozoon is a single cell. Draw one or more 
spermatozoa. Size about three inches in length. 

IV. THE EGG-LAYING AND FERTILIZATION 
Exercise 4. The Fertilized Egg or One-cell Stage 

(a) Recall the exact structure of the male and female re- 
productive organs as dissected in the adult, and the manner 
in which the ovum passes from ovary to oviduct. The jelly, 
which is so conspicuous a feature of the masses of eggs seen 
in ponds, is secreted around each ovum during its passage 
through the oviduct. Fertilization occurs in the water out- 
side, either as the eggs leave the cloaca of the female and while 
the animals are still joined in copulation or, at latest, before 
the swelling of the jelly which occurs during the first few 
hours of exposure to the water. 

(b) Examine several eggs which have the jelly well swol- 
len. Is the jelly arranged in layers? These and the subse- 
quent stages should be studied in a watchglass with enough 
water to cover, them. Use the handlens mainly, and only in 
special cases the lowest magnification of the compound micro- 
scope, turning off the mirror. When it is desirable to remove 
the jelly, from preserved material, this may be done by rolling 
the egg along on a piece of filter paper. In the living egg, 



Development of the Frog 81 

the light colored hemisphere is the heavier; and since the 
egg turns readily within its envelope of jelly the darker sur- 
face is always uppermost. How does the color on the surface 
of the egg compare with the general distribution of light and 
dark color on adult frogs, fishes, birds, etc., with which you 
are familiar? What significance may this have? The center 
of the darker or pigmented hemisphere is called the animal 
pole, the opposite point on the sphere the vegetative pole of 
the egg. Draw several eggs (x 3), showing their envelopes of 
jelly as they lie together in the mass ; also a single egg from a 
side view, one inch or more across, to show the pigmentation 
and the layers of the jelly. Label the poles and indicate the 
polar axis by an arrow, drawn as though thrust through the 
egg- 

V. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE FERTILIZED EGG 

(a) It is desirable that the cleavage and later stages de- 
scribed in the directions which follow be studied in living ma- 
terial. But since this is obtainable only in the spring, these 
directions have been written with reference to preservd ma- 
terial. In studying this dead material, examine not only the 
exact stages specified, but also look for intermediate condi- 
tions and wherever possible arrange specimens in a series 
showing the exact transition from pne stage to another, thus 
obtaining a picture of the development which approaches the 
vivid impression conveyed by the living egg and embryo as 
it passes from one stage to another. 

THE CLEAVAGE STAGES 

Exercise 5. The Two-cell Stage 

(b) In preserved material this stage is best studied in an 
egg with the cleavage furrow encircling about two-thirds of 
the circumference. Examine several specimens in a watch- 
glass, using handlens and low power of compound microscope. 
In the living egg, this first cleavage furrow begins at the ani- 
mal pole and gradually extends around the egg. When the 
furrow has cut entirely through, as well as around, the egg the 
two-cell stage is complete. 



82 Development of the Fkog 

(c) Understand that after the entrance of the spermatozoon 
in fertilization the nucleus of the sperm unites with the egg 
nucleus to form a single cleavage nucleus. The two-cell stage 
begins with the division of this single nucleus and the cleavage 
furrow seen on the outside is only the final step in the cell 
division by which the one-cell stage divides to form the two- 
cell. Following the completion of the first furrow a short 
period ensues during which no external changes occur, but in- 
ternally the nuclei are preparing for the next cell division. 

(d) Draw from side and top views to show the first furrow 
in process of formation, or as it appears when completed. In- 
dicate the poles by an arrow as before, and number the furrow 
by a figure 1 at either end. The most satisfactory size for 
the egg will be a circle IV2 to 2 inches in diameter, a scale 
which should be continued in subsequent drawings. Do not 
represent the jelly in. this or subsequent drawings unless th-± 
directions call for same. 

Exercise 6. The Four-cell Stage 

(e) Examine several preserved specimens of eggs in which 
the second cleavage furrow is well advanced. What has hap- 
pened internally before this furrow appears on the surface? 
Draw side and top views of this stage, numbering the furrows 
1 and 2, and labeling the poles as above. 

Exercise 7. The Eight-cell Stage 

(f) The third cleavage furrow is horizontal. How is it 
placed with reference to the equator of the sphere ? With its 
completion, we have the eight-cell stage which has four smal- 
ler, deeply pigmented cells above and four larger, lighter col- 
ored cells below. 

(g) Understand that with each division of any one cell, 
the nucleus also divides; so that in the two-, four-, eight-cell, 
and later stages, and so on to the many-celled adult organism, 
each cell possesses a nucleus descended through a longer or 
shorter series of divisions from the original nucleus of the 
one-cell stage or zygote which was itself formed by the fusion 



Development of the Frog 83 

of nuclear material from egg and spermatozoon. Hence, we 
reach the generalization that every cell of the adult animal 
contains a nucleus descended one-half from the male and one- 
half from the female parent. Draw top and side views of 
this stage, indicating the poles and furrows as before. 

Exercise 8. The Twelve- and Sixteen-cell Stages 

(h) The fourth cleavage consists, theoretically, of two verti- 
cal furrows which appear simultaneously at right angles to 
one another, dividing each of the eight cells approximately in 
halves. The four upper cells often complete this division be- 
fore the furrows have appeared in the lower hemisphere ; thus 
making, with the eight smaller above and the four larger cells 
below, a twelve-cell stage. With the division of the four lower 
cells, the sixteen-cell stage is produced. Examine a number 
of eggs preserved in this stage and determine the exact out- 
lines of the cells at either pole. What forces determine the 
cleavage pattern at this stage ? Draw, as before, a twelve- or a 
sixteen-cell stage from top and side views, reproducing ac- 
curately the cell outlines of a typical specimen. 

THE BLASTULA AND GASTRULA STAGES 
Exercise 9. The Thirty-two-cell Stage or Early Blastula 

(i) Theoretically, the fifth cleavage consists of two hor- 
izontal furrows, one above and one below the third. Which 
of these would you expect to appear first if you were studying 
the living egg*! With the completion of these furrows we have 
a thirty-two-cell stage. Why is it difficult in studying any 
single preserved specimen of this stage to assign numbers to 
the different furrows ? A thirty-two-cell stage is a theoretical 
rather than an actual occurrence, because the cells about the 
upper pole divide faster than the yolk-laden cells of the lower 
hemisphere. Why is there this difference in the rate of divi- 
sion? In the living egg the development is continued by 
progressive cell divisions, but from this time on it is impossible 
to recognize any uniformity in the pattern made by the fur- 



84 Development of the Frog 

rows. The term "mulberry stage' ' is often applied to this 
stage in which the number of cells becomes so great that the 
order of the furrows can no longer be traced. More definitely, 
we shall speak of it as the early blastula stage, the complete 
blastula stage being reached only by the further subdivision ot 
the cells. Draw a theoretical side view of the thirty-two-cell 
stage, numbering poles and furrows; and beside this draw a 
side view showing the exact appearance of an egg which is in 
about this stage of development. 

Exercise 10. The Blastula in Section 

(j) Take a preserved specimen in an early blastula stage; 
and after removing the jelly by rolling on damp filter paper, 
divide it into halves by a vertical cut with a sharp scalpel. 
Several trials may be necessary, but remarkably good prepara- 
tions are often secured by this rough method. Study under 
water with handlens and low power of compound microscope 
with mirror turned aside. What is the extent of the internal 
cavity? What is the size of the cells? Have the cells begun 
to divide in planes parallel to the surface of the sphere ? This 
cleavag'e or blastula cavity is a characteristic feature of the 
blastula stage. In the amphibian egg it appears at about the 
twelve- to sixteen-cell stage and persists until obliterated by 
the development of another cavity which becomes the digestive 
tract of the adult. Draw a favorable section to show these 
features. 

Exercise 11. The Late Blastula 

(k) Examine stages some hours older than the above and 
showing surface cells of much smaller size. Is there any sign 
of differentiation anywhere on the spherical mass other than 
the difference in pigmentation? Draw from a side view, 
showing size of cells by making a few cell outlines at either 
pole, labeling poles, and indicating distribution of pigment. 



Development of the Frog 85 

Exercise 12. The Early Gastrula Stage 

(1) Examine a stage several hours older than the last, using 
handlens and low power. Can you recognize cell outlines 
at each pole? If a specimen is not found with the vegetative 
pole up, one may be secured as follows: cut a piece of filter 
paper one-half inch square and lay upon a slide; add enough 
water to saturate and hold the paper in place but not enough 
to float it; using another piece of the paper, roll off the jelly 
from a single specimen and transfer to the above slide. The 
specimen may then be rolled into the desired position. If 
details are not clear under low power, add coverslip, supported 
on one side by a pin, and run water under the cover with pi- 
pette. Examine the vegative hemisphere and the equatorial 
region. At this stage the dark cells of the animal pole begin 
to encroach upon the surface area of the lower, light colored 
cells. The exposed surface of the lighter cells thus becomes 
diminished around its entire margin by the overgrowth of the 
darker cells. This overgrowth of the darker cells begins on 
one side of the equatorial region as a crescent-shaped line 
separating the light and dark cells. In later stages the cres- 
cent becomes extended to form a circle. Does the gastrula 
stage, as here studied, exhibit a bilateral symmetry which may 
foreshadow that of the future adult? The crescent-shaped 
line between the light and dark cells is known as the basto 
pore ; and is, in reality, a narrow slit which leads into the de- 
veloping gut cavity. This stage is called the "gastrula" be- 
cause the gastric or digestive cavity is now being formed. 
Draw the early gastrula, as seen from the vegetative pole. 

(m) Understand from lectures or textbook the internal 
changes by which the blastula becomes a gastrula. The word 
"egg" has been applied to the developing organism up to this, 
point, although strictly speaking the egg, having started on 
its development, ceases to be an egg and becomes an "embryo" 
even in the two-cell stage. The term "ovum" is invariably 
used to designate the egg cell before fertilization, but the term 
"egg" is more loosely used; and embryologists commonly 
speak of the developing egg until an embryo is formed which 



86 Development of the Frog 

is no longer egg-like in appearance. During its blastula and 
gastrula stages, the frog undergoes this change, and we shall 
accordingly begin to use the term "embryo" at this point in 
the development. 

Exercise 13. The Late Gastrula Stage 

(n) Examine an advanced gastrula stage in which the dark 
cells have still further encroached upon the exposed area of 
vegetative cells. This is often called the "yolk-plug" stage, 
because the yolk laden vegetative cells appear as a small 
"plug" on the otherwise dark colored embryo. Make a sim- 
ple outline drawing, oriented and labeled in a way to be under- 
stood when compared with previous figures. 

(o) Examine a demonstration showing the gastrula cavity 
or archenteron growing in from the blastopore and the earlier 
blastula cavity being obliterated. Cut a gastrula into right 
and left halves and examine as in the case of the blastula. 
Good selections will show the cavities as clearly as in the dem- 
onstration specimen and have the added advantage of showing 
the third dimension. Understand from lectures and textbook 
the internal structure of the gastrula, i. e., its ectoderm, endo- 
derm, mesoderm and archenteron ; and how the bilateral sym- 
metry of the embryo is made evident during gastrulation. 
The yolk-plug finally disappears within the embryo. But the 
blastopore can still be distinguished as a minute pit, which is 
to be shown in drawings of the stage immediately following. 
Draw the section studied, oriented in such a way as to place 
the future dorsal region toward the top of the page. The 
future head region may be to the right or to the left, but in 
subsequent figures the orientation here chosen must be con- 
tinued. 

THE NEURAL FOLD STAGES 

Exercise 14. The Early Neural Fold Stage 

(p) Examine stages some hours older than the last. The 
yolk-plug has disappeared by overgrowth of the dark cells. 
The ectoderm has thickened along the future dorsal region, 



Development of the Frog 87 

and the right and left neural folds are seen as slightly elevated 
ridges bordering this dorsal area. How are the right and left 
neural folds related to one another at either end? Find the 
blastopore, which now lies at one end of the area enclosed by 
the neural folds. Although this stage is not greatly changed 
from the spherical condition immediately preceeding it, we 
can now clearly recognize the parts of the adult body as fol- 
lows: The bilateral symmetry is obvious; the region between 
the neural folds is on the dorsal mid-line; the opposite sur- 
face is, of course, the ventral; the end where the fplds are 
more widely separated represents the anterior; the end where 
the blastopore is located the posterior region of the future 
adult. What is the position of the blastopore with reference 
to the neural folds ? Draw this stage from a dorsal view, 
making outline of the jelly still surrounding, and labelling to 
show all the above points in their relation to the future adult. 
The jelly begins to disintegrate at about this time and the pre- 
served tadpoles are likely to become separated from it before 
the time of hatching. 

Exercise 15. The Late Neural Fold Stage 

(q) Examine a later stage. The neural folds have become 
higher and approached one another along the dorsal mid-line. 
Where do they fuse last of all ? What has become of the blasto- 
pore? What general changes in the shape of the entire body 
have taken place? Understand from lectures and textbook 
what develops from that part of the ectoderm which is folded 
in when the neural folds meet and fuse, also the structures 
which would appear in longitudinal and transverse sections 
of such a stage. Draw a side view with the ventral surface 
below, labeling thoroughly. 

THE EAELY LARVAL STAGES 

Exercise 16. The First Tadpole Stage 

(r) Examine stages in which the shape of the tadpole is 
beginning to appear. Several specimens of slightly different 



88 Development of the Frog 

ages are desirable, as the earliest rudiments of parts are not 
easily recognized. Determine first the orientation. The dorsal 
line is less curved than the ventral which protrudes in the 
belly region. "Where is the line of fusion of the neural folds? 
The head end is blunter than the tail at this stage. In the 
region between body and head, there is on each side a slightly 
raised area, the gill plate. Anterior to this is the rudiment of 
the sucker, recognizable as a "U" shaped structure when seen 
from the ventral aspect. Examination of the posterior end 
will show the proctodeum or rudiment of the anus. The 
specimen should be rolled over and studied from different 
angles, or several specimens in different positions should be 
examined. Draw a side view, orienting in the same way as 
the last figure. Making a model may prove helpful. 

Exercise 17. The Second Tadpole or Hatching Stage 

(s) The term "larva" is applied to a stage in an animal's 
development, structurally different from the adult and leading 
an independent existence. As previously explained, the term 
"embryo" is applied to stages preceding the larval stages, 
when the latter are present; and embryos are, in general, un- 
hatched stages. How would you apply these terms to the de- 
velopment of a butterfly, a bird, and a mammal? The tadpole 
is said to "hatch" when it frees itself from the jelly and be- 
gins to swim about. Examine specimens in this stage. The 
head, body, and tail are becoming evident to the unaided eye. 
The tadpoles are leaving the jelly, which has become very soft, 
and preserved specimens are often shaken free from the jelly 
before this stage. The specimens given out will probably be 
in slightly different stages and if a half dozen are taken they 
can be oriented alike and arranged in order to show the de- 
velopmental changes. Study such a series and follow the fur- 
ther differentiation of the parts shown in the last figure. The 
rudiments of the eyes will now be seen on either side near the 
most anterior portion of the body. 

(t) Select a stage showing clearly: the head, body, and tail, 
the rudiments of gill-plates, the eyes, the suckers, and the 



Development of the Frog 89 

proctodeum or future anus. Draw, orienting as above. Here 
again, modelling is helpful. 

(u) Cut cross sections through the body, placing the speci- 
men on wet filter paper and using a sharp scalpel as with the 
blastula and gastrula stages. Good sections will show: the 
tubular nervous system, the primitive backbone or notochord, 
the gut cavity lined with endoderm, the yolk mass, the mes- 
oderm, and the ectoderm. Compare with chart or other fig- 
ures and identify these parts as far as possible, making a dia- 
grammatic figure of such a section. 

Exercise 18. The Third Tadpole Stage 

(v) Select a number of specimens which can be seen with 
the eye to have the tail beginning its differentiation into a fin 
and a muscular axis. Arrange a series, as before, and after re- 
jecting duplicates, rearrange the series changing to clean 
water if necessary. At one stage the larva will show clearly 
certain segmental markings on either side in the region of 
the backbone. These are the primitive muscle segments. 
Identify all the parts previously studied; and, in addition, 
the rudiments of the external gills, appearing as a tuft-like 
growth on either gill plate; and the tail fin. Draw, orienting 
as before. 

Exercise 19. The Fourth Tadpole Stage 

(w) Up to this time the tadpole, although hatched, swims 
but little. Instead, it clings to the jelly and other foreign 
bodies by means of the suckers. Now the activity becomes 
greater, and in the living specimens swimming is much more 
in evidence. Study specimens with well developed external 
gills, identifying all the parts as above; and in addition, the 
rudimentary mouth or stomodseum, which now appears as a 
pit anteriorly between the suckers and eyes. It is clearly seen 
from the ventral view. Where is the proctodeum at this 
stage? Parts of the brain show through the ectoderm as 
swellings above the line between eye and gills. Look for 
muscle segments. "What is the distribution of the pigmentation 



90 Development of the Frog 

at this stage ? "What correlation exists between the appearance 
of the mouth, the disappearance of the yolk, and the assump- 
tion of an active mode of existence? Draw, orienting as be- 
fore. 

Exercise 20. The Fifth Tadpole Stage 

(x) In individuals more advanced than the foregoing, look 
for the operculum, a membrane comparable to the lateral cov- 
ering of the gills of a fish. It will be found overgrowing 
the external gills. The external gills are temporary respira- 
tory organs and soon disappear with the growth of the true 
gills, which are in the region covered by the operculum and 
are comparable to the gills of a fish. Draw a tadpole, showing 
the external gills partially overgrown by the operculum. 

THE LATE LABVAL STAGES 

Exercise 21. External Features 

(y) For this study preserved tadpoles of the leopard frog 
or of the large bullfrog may be used. Living specimens should 
be examined in an aquarium. Notice how they come up to 
breathe and how the more advanced stages are beginning to 
use their legs. Study first a preserved specimen with hind 
limbs just appearing. It should be placed under water in a 
dissecting pan. Make out: nostrils; eyes; mouth, with horny 
teeth ; hind limbs ; and, on one side of the body, the opercular 
opening which leads into the gill chamber. Draw from a side 
view, orienting as in previous figures, and showing the oper- 
cular opening by a dotted outline if your drawing is of the 
right side. 

Exercise 22. The Gills and Viscera in Position 

(z) Fasten the specimen ventral side up, by pinning 
through mouth and tail. Eemove the skin from the ventral 
half of the body wall, leaving the opercular opening intact. 
The coils of the intestine may now be seen beneath the muscles 
and just anterior to them the gill region. Are there any indica- 



Development of the Feog 91 

tions of segmentation ? Carefully remove the thin layer cover- 
ing the gills, and find the fore limbs lying against the gills 
and within the opercular cavity. Probe through the opercular 
opening and determine its relation to the gills. Find the 
heart between the right and left gill areas. Anterior to the 
gills are three conspicuous muscle bands connected with the 
jaws. Eemove the muscles which cover the coils of the in- 
testine. How are the coelomic and opercular cavities sepa- 
rated? 

(aa) Pin out beside the tadpole and in the same position 
a small fish, preferably a catfish. Examine the gills and the 
operculum of either side, if necessary cutting anteriorly from 
the "V" where the two opercula meet. What is the relation 
of the gills and the gill slits to the mouth and to the cavity 
beneath the operculum? Locate the heart by cutting along 
the mid-line in the angle of the "V". 

(bb) Compare these structures in the tadpole and the fish. 
How many gills and how many gill slits in each? What is 
the relation of gill slits to mouth in the tadpole? Using a 
tipped bristle, probe through the mouth and out through the 
gill slits. Recall the earlier stages of the operculum as seen 
in Exercise 20. How does the operculum of the tadpole differ 
from that of the fish? Is the developing fore limb really on 
the outside of the body? 

(cc) Draw the entire tadpole (x2), as thus dissected show- 
ing: the cut edge of the body wall; the partition between 
coelome and opercular cavity; and the other structures ob- 
served. Show the relation between opercular cavity, gill 
slits, and mouth by arrows. Spread the gills apart to show 
the slits. 

Exercise 23. The Coelome and its Contents 

(dd) Lift up the mass of the intestine at its posterior 
margin and locate the rectum against the dorsal wall on the 
left side of the body. Cut the rectum leaving a short stump. 
Lift the mass of the intestine and find the oesophagus where 
it enters the anterior end of the coelome. Follow the oesopiia- 



92 Development of the Frog 

gus to the stomach and this to the intestine where the latter 
enters the coil. Cut the intestine at this point and remove the 
coil after cutting its attachment to the dorsal mid-line. Look 
for the spleen, either on the dorsal side of the coil as removed 
or still in the body. Uncoil the intestine and determine its 
length. How does it compare with length of the intestine in 
the adult? Is there a large intestine? Is there anything in 
the feeding habits of frog and tadpole which may explain 
the different length of the intestine in the two? Examine 
the part of the digestive tract remaining within the ccelome. 
Find, in addition to the parts above noted, the liver with the 
gall bladder between its lobes, and the pancreas lying in an 
angle between the stomach and the intestine. What changes 
must occur in the digestive tract when the tadpole becomes a 
frog? Locate the lungs, kidneys, fat bodies, and the rudiments 
of the ovaries or testes. Draw the above organs as they ap- 
pear in position or slightly displaced to show as much as 
possible, making an outline of the tadpole and its ccelomic 
cavity about the organs. 

Exercise 24. Transverse Sections 

(ee) Unpin the specimen and with a sharp scalpel cut 
transversely through the body in the gill region and again at 
about the middle of the ccelome. What is the condition of the 
skeleton and of the nervous system in comparison with the 
adult as shown by the two sides of the thick section? If not 
clear, take a new specimen and again cut sections. Draw a 
favorable section or sections. 

THE METAMORPHOSIS 

Exercise 25. The Tadpole of a Frog 

(ff) Examine several preserved specimens showing stages 
in the metamorphosis. Note changes in shape of body, in 
mouth, tail, limbs, and coloration. What becomes of the oper- 
culum? Has the tympanum appeared? Draw representative 
individuals. 



Development of the Chick 93 

Exercise 26. The Tadpole of a Salamander 

(gg) During the spring months the living tadpoles of the 
salamander Amblystoma may be obtained. "Watch individuals, 
sometime hatched, as they swim in an aquarium ; and then ex- 
amine, in a watchglass, with a handlens. Compare part by 
part with the tadpoles of the frog already studied, The suck- 
ers are long stalk-like structures, otherwise the resemblance is 
obvious. Add a drop of ether to the water and when the larva? 
become quiet examine with low power of compound microscope. 
Note pigmentation of the body. Observe the blood-flow in the 
gills. Can you recognize corpuscles? Pulse? Construct a 
diagram to show the course of the blood-flow in a single tui't 
of the gills. 

(hh) Older larvae are often taken during the early sum- 
mer in places where frog tadpoles are abundant. Examine 
preserved specimens about one and one-half inches in length 
and showing external gills just disappearing beneath oper- 
culum. Compare with demonstration specimens of the adult. 
Can you recognize muscle segments in larva and adult ? What 
structures justify the statement that a salamander is a less 
specialized vertebrate than a frog? Draw the larva from a 
side view, orienting the same as figures of the frog tadpoles. 

THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CHICK 

Exercise 1. The Reproductive Organs 

(a) Examine the reproductive organs of a male and those 
of a laying female : to see the testes, and their vasa deferentia: 
the oviduct, with its funnel, its albumen- and shell-secreting 
parts, and its relation to the cloaca and rectum. Notice, in the 
ovary, the eggs in various stages, and the places where eggs 
have been recently discharged; also the stigmata or non-vas- 
cular areas which rupture when an egg is set free. 

(b) Examine under the microscope a small amount of the 
yolk obtained from one of these ovarian eggs. Recall the 
similar structures in the frog's egg. 



94 Development of the Chick 

(c) Examine demonstration sections showing the cellular 
nature of the ovary. 

Exercise 2. The Unincubated Egg 

(d) Take an unincubated hen's egg and, using scissors, cut 
open on one side a space about one inch across, being careful 
that the scissors points do not cut too deep and injure the 
I oik. The opening may be further enlarged, if necessary, the 
egg resting upon a bed of cotton wool in a finger bowl. Find 
the chalazse or twisted cords of albumen at either end. What 
relation have they to the yolk and to the shell ? Find the two 
membranes which line the shell. These can always be seen 
at the large end where there is a space between them. At one 
place upon the surface of the yolk is a small whitish area, 
the blastoderm, the central part of which is known as the area 
pellucida and the peripheral part as the area opaqua. Does 
this always appear at the top, however the egg is turned? 
Compare with the rotation of the frog's egg in its capsule. 
Understand the comparison between such an egg as this and 
that of the frog and the starfish, and the condition of the 
blastoderm at this stage. Draw (x 1) the egg as thus dis- 
sected. 

Exercise 3. The Twenty-four-hour Stage 

(e) Open an egg which has been under incubation for 
twenty-four hours, and placing it on the cotton beside the one 
just drawn compare the two. Record or make a simple sketch, 
to show the changes which have taken place in the .blastoderm 
during this first day of incubation. Before discarding this 
specimen, the existence of a delicate yolk membrane should be 
demonstrated by puncturing. 

(f ) Permanently mounted specimens of the blastoderm and 
the developing embryo will be issued for the study of approxi- 
mately the 24-, 36-, and 48-hour stages, in their finer details. 
These should be handled with great care lest they be crushed 
by wiping or by the objectives of the microscope. These slides 
are secured by removing the blastoderms, which are then fixed, 



Development of the Chick 95 

stained, and mounted in balsam. The first to be studied is the 
24-hour stage, in which the following parts are to be made out 
with the low power of the compound microscope : neural folds ; 
head folds; mesodermal somites; primitive streak; area pel- 
lucida; the vascular area; and the vitelline area. Focus care- 
fully to determine the vertical dimensions of the parts and 
compare your results with what is shown by models. Draw 
this stage as a full-page figure, including a small margin 
from the vitelline area. 

Exercise 4. The Thirty-six-hour Stage 

(g) Open a 36-hour stage, just from the incubator, and 
notice the further changes. With the aid of an instructor, 
inject some India ink into the cavity beneath the blastoderm, 
and then harden the embryo by dropping strong alcohol upon 
the outside. Compare part by part with a permanently 
mounted specimen of the same stage, placing the latter across 
the top of a watchglass and against a white background. 
Study with lens to locate the parts previously observed in the 
24-hour stage. After identifying these with the handlens in 
both the fresh and the preserved specimens, study the mounted 
specimen further under the compound microscope and make 
out, in addition to the features seen in the last : the beginning 
of the brain vesicles ; the amnion ; heart ; notochord ; and any 
changes in the size and proportions of parts. Here again, 
careful focusing and the comparison of what you see with 
the models is necessary for the proper understanding of the 
third dimension. Draw this stage in a figure similar to the 
last. 

Exercise 5. The Forty-eight-hour Stage 

(h) Examine a freshly opened embryo in the 45- to 48- 
hour stage, comparing it with the last. Note : the blood 
vessels ; the pulsations of the heart, which should be counted 
for the number per minute ; and the extent to which the blas- 
toderm has extended over the egg. Treat with India ink and 
alcohol as before. Study the specimen thus freshly prepared 



96 Development of the Chick 

and a stained and mounted specimen of the same stage. Find 
all the structures previously obsurved in the 36-hour stage, and 
in addition note : the cranial flexure ; the torsion of the cephalic 
end of the embryo ; the fore-, mid-, and hind-brain vesicles ; the 
optic vesicles ; the lens of the eye ; the auditory vesicles ; the 
tubular heart, now bent into an "S" 'shape; the vitelline 
arteries and veins and the sinus terminalis; the gill bars and 
slits ; and the extent to which the amnion has developed. Draw 
this stage, in a figure similar to the last. 

Exercise 6. The Embryonic Membranes 

(i) Understand from demonstrations of the later stages 
of chick and mammal and from the lectures, charts and text- 
book, how the embryo is related in its several stages to the 
yolk mass and the significance of the amnion, allantois and 
yolk-sac in birds and mammals. 



THE CRAYFISH 

PHYLUM, ARTHROPODA. CLASS, CRUSTACEA 

I. BEHAVIOR AND EXTERNAL FEATURES 
Exercise 1. General Activities 

(a) These directions have been prepared with special ref- 
erence to the crayfish Cambarus virilis. They may be used 
equally well for any of the common species of crayfish and, 
with slight modifications, for the lobster Homarus americanus. 
Watch the crayfish in shallow pans or aquaria and study their 
manner of swimming and walking. How sensitive are they to 
touch? By passing your hand a short distance above the 
specimen, see if it shows any sign of an acute sense of sight. 
Try this again with a specimen out of water. Place a specimen 
on its back in the water or on a table and determine the acute- 
ness of its sense of equilibrium. 

(b) Put some carmine in the water and see if you can de- 
tect any currents flowing in a definite direction in the vicinity 
of the animal when it remains quiet for a short time. Select- 
ing a small individual, or one having a very clean shell, look 
on the outside of the body, just above the great claw and in 
line with the eye, and see if you can detect a flickering motion, 
as though something were moving beneath the semi-trans- 
parent shell. Recall this observation later when you come to 
study the gill chamber. Keep a specimen out of water for a 
few minutes and note the bubbles which come from the front 
part of the body when it is again placed in the water. Do they 
come from a definite place on the body? You should be able 
to give an intelligent explanation of the facts noted in this 
paragraph after you have studied the gill chambers of the 
animal as outlined in section II of these notes. 

(c) Observe crayfish as they remain undisturbed in aquaria 
containing stones or other objects. Can you tell what deter- 
mines the particular places which the animals occupy. Drop 
small pieces of fresh meat into the aquaria and watch the re- 

(97) 



98 The Cbayfish 

suit. In some of the aquaria several small fish may be placed 
and the result watched at this and the next laboratory period. 
Observe crayfish in large tanks or in nature and note any 
habits of concealment and also their mode of swimming. 

Exercise 2. External features 

(d) The body of the crayfish is made up of segments or 
somites each one of which bears a pair of jointed appendages. 
There are three general regions of the body, head, thorax, and 
abdomen, each of which includes several segments. In the 
abdomen the segments are distinct and movable while in the 
remainder of the body they are covered dorsally and united 
by the carapace into a rigid portion, the cephalothorax. Com- 
pare anterior and posterior ends, dorsal and ventral and 
right and left sides. Is there any departure from strict bi- 
lateral symmetry? Examine the pairs of limbs from the an- 
terior to the posterior end. Is the entire animal covered by 
a dense shell? What is the nature of the joints of body and 
appendages? After looking carefully at the proportions of 
the abdomen, draw (si) an outline of an ideal cross section 
through this region to show the shape of the dorsal and ven- 
tral parts of the shell and the shape and attachment of the 
paired limbs. Do not actually cut across the specimen, but 
make the figure as it would appear if cut across. 

(e) Find the mouth and anus. Note the openings on the 
bases of the longest feelers, second antennae. They are the 
openings of the kidney-like green glands. Find on the dorsal 
face of the small first antennas the clear flat areas which mark 
the position of the lithocysts or organs of equilibration. Exam- 
ine the bases of the walking legs for the openings of the re- 
productive organs. They are found on the last pair in the 
male, and on the second from the last pair in the female. In 
the male of C. virilis the two first pairs of abdominal appen- 
dages are modified to form, when pressed together, a copula- 
tory organ along which the sperms pass after leaving the male 
openings. What is the condition of the corresponding appen- 
dages of the female? Place a male and a female side by side 



The Crayfish 99 

and note the difference when they are viewed dorsally. 

II. THE RESPIRATORY ORGANS 
Exercise 3. The Gills and Respiratory Currents 

(a) Note how the shell, carapace, extends from the back 
down over the bases of the walking legs. Lift up the free 
ventral edge and see the spongy mass formed by the gills or 
branchiae. Taking care not to injure the gills and using your 
strong scissors, remove the overhanging shell from the left 
side, thus exposing the full extent of the gill cavity, but do not 
cut too far dorsally and injure the organs on that side of the 
body. Cut off the walking legs and large claw, chela, of this 
side a short distance from their insertion. Place the specimen 
under water in a dissecting dish and by floating up and care- 
fully parting the mass of the gills get an idea of what a singie 
gill is like and where it is attached to the body. Move the 
stumps of the legs and see how the outer gills are related to 
them. How many of these outer gills are there? To what 
appendages are they attached? What effect do you think the 
animal's walking would have upon respiration? What struc- 
ture do you find at the place where you saw the flickering 
movement under the shell of the living specimen? Back of 
this bailer is another, more delicate, blade which you will 
identify later as the epipodite of the first maxilliped. 

(b) Put together all you know about the gill cavity, its con- 
tents, and the water currents you have seen in the vicinity of a 
quiet animal, and explain how the gills are always bathed with 
a constantly changing supply of water. 

(c) These outer gills are called podobranchs. Note the 
significance of the name. Keeping the specimen entirely un- 
der water and lifting the podobranchs one at a time to be 
sure you do not destroy any of the smaller gills which lie close 
beneath, remove all of the podobranchs by cutting them off 
close to their attachment. Cut one across the middle with 
scissors and examine the section under water with a handlens.. 



100 The Crayfish 

You should see the incurrent and excurrent blood vessels cut 
across where they run close together. 

(d) The inner layer of gills is now exposed. Are they 
attached to the feet? There are five pairs and a single one in 
front. Opposite which of the appendages are these gills lo- 
cated? They are called the arthrobranchs (joint gills). Note 
again the significance of the name. 

(e) In the lobster there is another layer of four gills lying 
beneath the arthrobranchs. Because they are attached higher 
up and on the sides of the body these last are termed the 
pleurobranchs (side gills). The common European crayfish 
from which the descriptions in most textbooks are taken pos- 
sesses a single pleurobranch, but in the adult of C. virilis even 
this has disappeared. Examine museum specimens of the lob- 
ster dissected to show the three kinds of gills. 

(f) Make an outline (x 2) of the cephalothorax in a side 
view. Show the stumps of the appendages and the places 
from which podobranchs have been removed. Put in all the 
arthrobranchs and show also the bailer and the epipodite 
above noted. Indicate the course of the water current by ar- 
rows. 

(g) Examine specimens macerated in caustic potash and 
notice the delicate chitinous covering of the gills which has 
survived the maceration. Are the gills inside or outside the 
body? In answering this question, imagine how they would 
look in a cross section of the animal in the thoracic region of 
the body. 

III. THE INTERNAL STRUCTURE 

Exercise 4. The Digestive, Circulatory, and Reproductive 

Systems 

(a) Using a freshly killed specimen, cut with large scissors 
along the dorso-lateral surface on either side of the cephalo- 
thorax, taking care not to injure any of the organs lying imme- 
diately beneath the skeleton. Remove this dorsal part of the 
skeleton from the posterior margin of the thorax to a point 



The Crayfish 101 

just back of the eyes. Place the specimen in a dissecting dish 
and having it entirely covered with water identify the follow- 
ing : The tops of the gills, which are exposed where you have 
cut into the gill cavity, are seen on either side. The heart, 
which may be still beating, lies between these on the mid-line 
in a cavity known as the pericardium. It is soft and spongy 
in its consistency and you should be able to distinguish the 
paired openings, ostia, which lie upon its dorsal surface. How 
many are there? The gastric mill or gizzard lies well to the 
front and is roughly triangular. Note its thin and delicate 
walls and the two transverse bars of harder material, by which 
its walls are strenghtened. When the specimen is intact mus- 
cles pass from each of these bars, or sclerites, to the inner face 
of the dorsal skeleton. Find the remains of these muscles still 
attached to the shell which you removed, and also to the pos- 
terior sclerites. If the carapace has not been removed too far 
forward you should be able to see the muscles arising from 
the anterior sclerite and attached to the inner face of the shell 
just behind and between the eyes. These muscles form a part 
of the complex system by which the grinding of the gastric 
mill is brought about. Passing through the pericardium are 
large muscles which diverge as they pass forward. If these pull 
on their forward ends as the fixed point, what movement will 
they bring about in the abdomen? You can answer this if you 
understand how the segments of the abdomen are articulated 
to one another. For this see specimens macerated in caustic 
potash. The appearance of the region between the heart and 
gizzard differs with the sex and sexual maturity of the speci- 
men. In a female, with well developed ovaries, these latter 
organs are seen as a bi-lobed mass in front and a median mass 
behind the heart. In a male the testes are less conspicuous, 
but have the same general "Y" shape. In specimens which 
are immature or which have recently shed their eggs or sperms 
the organs are quite inconspicuous and need not be noted for 
the present. The digestive gland which is of a yellowish green 
color in a freshly killed specimen will be easily made out, but 
in specimens with large ovaries it may be crowed almost out 
of sight and only found by pressing aside the latter organs. 



102 The Ceayfish 

(b) Cut off the tops of the gills, sever the extensor muscles 
of the abdomen at the level of the heart, cut back along either 
side of the abdomen as far as the telson and remove the dorsal 
skeleton of this region. The abdominal extensors will be found 
as two thin bands of muscle lying close under the skeleton. 
They may be taken off with the skeleton, though you should 
be careful not to tear away anything else. The intestine will 
now be seen in the abdominal region along the mid-line. Be- 
neath and to the sides of the intestine are masses of muscle, 
which by their combined action flex the abdomen. Compare 
the bulk of these flexors with that of the extensors. Why should 
there be such a difference in the size and hence the power of 
these muscles ? Lying on top of the intestine you will per- 
haps make out a very small transparent thread, the dorsal ab- 
dominal blood vessel. At the anterior end of the abdomen the 
median portion of the reproductive organs may be found or, if 
these are immature, the posterior ends of the digestive glands. 

(c) Make an outline (x 2 or 3) of the cephalothorax and ab- 
domen. Put into this the organs as they now lie in place. 

(d) Remove the heart and look for ostia on its ventral sur- 
face. Note the "Y" shape of the reproductive organs and find 
their ducts leading to the external openings before noted. Re- 
move the reproductive organs, being careful not to injure the 
digestive gland or the intestine. Trim off more of the gills 
and pull away the portions of the abdominal extensors which 
remain in the thorax. Make out the connection of the gizzard 
with the intestine and the antero-posterior extent of the di- 
gestive glands. Cut in from one side and find the oesophagus ; 
It is very short and can be best located by noting again the 
position of the mouth. Trace the intestine to its posterior end, 
cut off close to the anus and carefully free it up to its union 
with the gizzard, also free the digestive glands. Cut across 
the oesophagus and remove the entire digestive tract and its 
appended glands in one piece. Float out in water, and cut off 
the left digestive gland close to the tract. Note the region 
between the gastric mill and the intestine. Open the gizzard 
along the ventral mid-line, find the teeth, work them together 
and see how they grind. 



The Crayfish 103 

(e) Draw a side view from the left, showing the tract and 
the right gland in position and the place where the left one 
opens into the tract. 

Exercise 5. The Nervous System 

(f) Carefully remove all the muscles and viscera from the 
abdomen. The ventral nerve cord will then be seen lying on 
the mid-ventral line. Notice the ganglia. How many do you 
count? Notice the lateral nerves. How are these arranged 
with reference to the ganglia ? In the cephalothofax, the nerve 
cord is concealed beneath transverse ridges of the ventral wall 
of the shell. Cut these with heavy scissors and expose the 
nerve cord, beginning at the hinder end of the cephalothorax 
and working forward. How many thoracic ganglia do you 
find? Just back of the oesophagus is the large sub-cesophageal 
ganglion, which is connected with the brain by two connectives 
passing around the oesophagus. The brain or supra-cesophageal 
ganglion is just behind the eyes. Find the nerves passing from 
the brain to the eyes and to the two pairs of antennas. Draw 
a figure of the nervous system thus exposed, showing accurate- 
ly the ganglia, the segments in which they lie, and the lateral 
nerves. 

(g) At the anterior end of the body, near the external 
openings already noted, find the excretory organs or green 
glands. The thin bladder and underlying glandular portion 
of the organ can be readily distinguished. Refer to textbook 
for further details. Show the position and shape of these or- 
gans by dotted outlines added to the general figure, III (c). 

IV. THE APPENDAGES 

Exercise 6. Serial Homology and Functional Modification 

(a) Examination of the appendages shows that they are 
obviously modified for a different use in each region of the 
body. Anteriorly one finds that the appendages have sensory 
functions. In the region of the mouth they are modified in re- 
lation to the siezing and mastication of food. In the middle 
region they serve for walking legs. In the abdomen the smal- 



104 The Crayfish 

ler appendages are modified with reference to respiration and 
reproduction while the last pair, together with the terminal 
segment or telson, constitute the powerful tail fin. Compari- 
son of their structure reveals a certain fundamental plan which 
will be appreciated as study progresses. In the following ex- 
amination, take the appendages one at a time from the right 
side of the animal and arrange each in such a way that when 
completed all your figures will have the same orientation, ac- 
cording to the more detailed instructions which follow. This 
is very important for the correct understanding of the homolo- 
gies between the various appendages. It is also important that 
the parts of each appendage drawn be completely labeled and 
that the smaller ones be drawn on a generous scale. 

(b) There are all told 19 pairs of appendages. Beginning 
with the abdomen, count the number of pairs in this region 
of the body and compare them with the number of segments. 
The last pair of these is called the uropods (tail-feet), the 
others the pleopods or swimmerets. Note again the differences 
in the two anterior pairs of abdominal appendages in the sexes. 
Remove the right appendage of the fourth abdominal somite 
by cutting close to the body. A basal piece, the protopodite, 
bears two terminal pieces, an inner endopodite and an outer 
exopodite. However markedly any of the other appendages 
may seem to differ from this plan of structure, all can be 
shown to be derived from this fundamental plan. The only 
exception is found in the case of the first antennae. Draw the 
above appendage with the end of attachment upward, the 
exopod to the right and the endopod to the left. Use this 
same orientation in all your other drawings of appendages. 

(c) Remove and draw the uropod of the right side. Orient 
and label as above. 

(d) The thorax has eight pairs of appendages as follows : 
Four pairs of walking legs or pereiopods (walking feet), the 
great claws or chelae; and three pairs farther forward which 
will be examined presently. Remove the right fourth pereio- 
pod and the right chela, being sure to get all of the parts of 
which each is composed. In the pereiopod the two proximal 



The Crayfish 105 

parts represent a divided protopod, while the remaining five 
are divisions of the endopod. In the embryo an exopod is 
present. The great claws resemble the two anterior pairs of 
pereiopods save for the union of two of the divisions. Can you 
find where this has occurred ? Note the simple modification by 
which the nipper is formed on the chela. Draw this pereiopod 
in the same orientation as your previous figures and show by a 
dotted outline the position the exopod would have if present. 

(e) In front of the great claws are three pairs of appen- 
dages, known as the maxillipeds (jaw feet). The most pos- 
terior pair, third maxillipeds, are large and easily recognizable. 
Before removal, the right hand member of this pair should be 
compared part by part with the walking leg just examined. It 
has the same parts except that an exopod is present. At one 
point two of the segments have fused to form a single one as 
in the chela. This third maxilliped is a very important append- 
age from the fact that it still has the fundamental plan, and so 
can be compared with the simpler abdominal appendages; 
while the structure of its endopod shows how we may interpret 
the adult structure of the walking leg. Draw this appendage 
oriented as above. 

(f) Examine, without removing, the second maxillipeds 
which lie in front of the third. They will be found to have 
parts similar to the latter. They should be removed with 
care not to destroy the first maxillipeds which lie close in 
front of them. Identify, as before without removing, the parts 
of these first maxillipeds. There is a large epipodite which lies 
in the gill chamber just behind the bailer. Protruding toward 
the mid-line are two thin flaps which are outgrowths from 
the protopod, and at about right angles to these are two other 
projections which are the exopod and endopod. Which is 
which? Remove the right one and draw on a large scale, ori- 
enting as above. 

(g) In front of the first maxillipeds are two pairs of max- 
illae, the parts of which should all be identified before the at- 
tempt is made to remove either one. The posterior or second 
maxillae, have a four-cleft protopodite, a delicate endopod and 



106 The Crayfish 

an exopod which is fused with the epipodite so that it looks 
of the fused exopod and epipodite? Before this appendage is 
like a forward continuation of the latter. What is the function 
removed the parts of the first maxilla should be identified. 
This, the smallest of all the appendages, consists of three parts, 
the endopod and a bi-lobed protopod. Which is which? Re- 
move the right second maxilla and draw, orienting as above. 

(h) Remove and make a similar figure of the right first 
maxilla. 

(i) The mandibles will now be exposed. Against their 
posterior surfaces are a pair of lobes which are not true ap- 
pendages. Each mandible consists of a heavy basal portion, on 
the median side of which is located the cutting edge, which is 
shown by the embryology to be a development of the protopod 
and which is comparable to the more delicate median out- 
growths on the first and second maxillae. The three-jointed 
palp which protrudes from the heavy basal piece has its proxi- 
mal joint formed from the protopod and the other two from 
the endopod. The exopod is wanting in the adult. Where 
would it be if it were present ? Remove and draw the mandible 
of the right side orienting as above. 

(j) The second antennae will show, when examined in place 
on the specimen, the typical exopod, endopod and protopod, 
and the opening of the green glands. Remove the right one 
of this pair, orient, and draw. 

(k) The first antennas, or antennules as they are sometimes 
called, are the only ones which do not show a real division into 
the three fundamental parts, although their two terminal por- 
tions at once suggest the endo- and exopod. Remove one and 
examine more carefully the region of the lithocyst or organ 
of equilibration. 



THE FRESH- WATER MUSSEL 

PHYLUM, MOLLUSCA. CLASS, LAMELLIBEANCHIATA 

I. THE SHELL 
Exercise 1. Genera and Species 

(a) The fresh-water mussels or clams are represented by 
many genera and by species which are numbered in the hun- 
dreds. The scientific and popular names of a few of the species 
'Common in the Mississippi Valley are as follows : 

Quadrula ebena, the nigger head. 

Q. pustulosa, the warty back. 

Q. metanevra, the maple leaf. 

Lampsilis ligamentina, the mucket. 

L. anodontoides, the yellow back. 

L. rectus, the black sand shell. 

Symphynota complanata, the hatchet back. 

The directions here given are sufficiently generalized for 
use with any of these species or with other species which are 
likely to be found in large numbers. 

(b) The shells of the species listed above, or better a more 
extensive collection of mussel shells, may be used to illustrate 
the difference between a genus and a species and between the 
species of a genus. If such a collection is available, examine 
the shells of a single genus, noting their peculiarities and the 
features they all appear to have in common. Examine one or 
more other genera in the same manner and compare with the 
iirst. The genera Quadrula and Lampsilis are useful for this 
purpose. By such comparison one can obtain a better idea of 
what is meant by a genus and a species. 

Exercise 2. Structural Features 

(c) Examine a pair of shells. In life the right and left 
halves or valves are firmly united by a hinge. The outer sur- 

(107) 



108 The Mussel 

face of the shell shows lines of growth, produced by the alter- 
nation of growing and non-growing periods. In general, these 
lines mark annual increments. What is the oldest part of the 
shell judging by these lines? This part is called the umbo. 
Why are the shells commonly eroded at the umbos ? Examine 
the edge of a broken shell to find the layers : periostracum, 
on the outside; prismatic layer; and the mother-of-pearl 
Within. Can you find lines of growth which give a clue to 
the manner in which the shell grows in thickness? The pris- 
matic layer may be further demonstrated in a ground section. 

(d) The orientation of the animal with reference to its 
shell is as follows : The valves are "rights" and "lefts". The 
hinge marks the dorsal, the gape the ventral side. A line 
drawn through the umbo, at right angles to the long axis of 
the shell, divides the shell into distinctly unequal parts. The 
smaller of these parts is anterior. To test your understanding 
of this orientation, fit the valves together and hold in such a 
position as to give the same general orientation as the present 
position of your own body. 

(e) Inside the shell are teeth which lock tightly when the 
valves are closed. What is their function? Good sized scars 
indicate the places of insertion of the adductor muscles which 
bring the valves together. Which is the anterior and which 
the posterior adductor? Since there are no muscles which 
pull the valves apart, how is the opening of the shell accom- 
plished? Shells especially prepared to demonstrate this will be 
needed. 

(f) The scars marking the insertions of the foot-muscles 
are smaller but easily recognizable. The posterior retractor 
scar lies above the posterior adductor; the anterior retractor 
scar lies posterior to the anterior adductor; the protractor 
scar lies a short distance below that of the anterior retractor. 
Extending between the adductors and parallel to the margin 
of the shell, is a line marking the attachment of the retractor 
muscles of the mantle. The mantle line is the so-called "wa- 
ter line" often seen on fresh-water pearl buttons. What can 
you make out at the edge of the shell regarding the three lay- 
ers above noted? 



The Mussel 109 

(g) Draw (x 1) the outer surface of the right valve, with 
its dorsal margin toward top of page, and below this the in- 
ner surface of the left valve in the same orientation. In be- 
ginning the figures, place the right valve on the paper and 
trace the two outlines. Show all the points of the foregoing 
section which can be represented. 

(h) Determine the effect of acid upon the substance com- 
posing the shell, also the effect of a strong alkali like caustic 
potash. Of what is the shell composed? Why are the heavy- 
shelled muscles abundant only in regions of limestone rock? 

II. THE LIVING MUSSEL 

Exercise 3. General Behavior 

(a) The living mussels may be studied in large aquaria or 
better in individual dishes having enough sand on the bottom 
to allow the clams to bury themselves readily. Lampsilis sub- 
rostrata, a small pond and slough mussel, is admirable for this 
purpose and may be studied in a finger bowl. Place an active 
individual on its side and watch it begin burrowing. The 
fleshy organ which can be protruded from between the antero- 
ventral margins of the shells is the foot. How does the animal 
make its way down into the sand and move about ? The fleshy 
membrane exposed between the slightly gaping valves is the 
mantle. In a specimen which lies undisturbed on its side or in 
one which is embedded in the sand, can you see openings be- 
tween the right and left sides of the mantle at the posterior 
end of the animal? Are there papilla along these openings 
or elsewhere along the mantle margin? Touch parts of this 
region very gently with a needle and determine its sensitive- 
ness. Can you distinguish any difference in the degree of 
sensitiveness between the region of these two openings, or 
siphons, and the part of the mantle near the foot? In a quiet 
specimen, with the siphons well open, watch for currents ol 
water in and out by way of the siphons. The existence of cur- 
rents may be demonstrated by dropping powdered carmine 
into the water near the siphons or there may be enough silt 



110 The Mussel 

in the water to show the movement. There is a constant, 
though gentle, current in one siphon and out the other. Which 
is the inhalent and which the exhalent siphon? When the 
mantle edge is strongly stimulated with a needle, note how the 
shells quickly close driving water out through both siphons. 
By examining a number of mussels, which have been left undis- 
turbed for some days in an aquarium containing sand, deter- 
mine the positions normally assumed by the animal in its life 
upon the bottom. The food of the mussel consists of micro- 
scopic organisms which live on or near the bottom. These wa- 
ter currents are of great importance to the animal, because 
they constitute an essential feature not only, of the food 
getting but also of the respiration and excretion. When the 
internal structure has been examined, it will be seen that the 
animal acts like a sieve, straining out the water and retaining 
the microscopic food particles. If the dish can be placed in 
direct sunlight, allow the animal to expand and then test its 
sensitiveness to light by passing a strong shadow over the 
siphons. Such points in the foregoing as can be well de- 
scribed in writing should be properly incorporated in your 
laboratory book. 

III. THE EXTERNAL STRUCTURE OP THE BODY 

Exercise 4. The Outer Surface of the Mantle 

(a) A specimen preserved in formalin or one just killed 
should be used. As the removal of the shell is not easy for a 
beginner, you should have special instructions for this pre- 
liminary step. Remove the right valve and study the mussel 
from this right side as it lies in the other valve. This places 
the specimen in the same orientation as the drawings of the 
shell. Note the soft membrane, the mantle, which conforms to 
the inner surface of the shell. There Avill be no breaks in the 
mantle unless it has been mutilated. Find the ends of the 
following muscles, the scars of which have already been seen 
upon the shell : anterior and posterior adductors ; anterior 
and posterior retractors; and the protractor. Find the line 



The Mussel 111 

on the mantle which corresponds to the mantle line on the 
shell. The following internal organs can be more or less defi- 
nitely recognized, according to the species or the method by 
which the specimen has been prepared: digestive gland; kid- 
ney; Keber's organ; and pericardium, containing the heart. 
By consulting a chart or blackboard diagram, understand 
their position even if you are not able to locate them at this 
time in your own specimen. Make a figure of the mussel (x 1) 
as it thus lies in the left valve of its shell and seen from the 
right. The removed valve may be wiped dry and the first out- 
line of the drawing made by tracing around it. 

Exercise 5. The Organs of the Mantle Cavity 

(b) The space enclosed between the right and left halves 
of the mantle, and in which the foot lies, is the mantle cavity. 
Without tearing or cutting, find how the incurrent siphon com- 
municates with this. Lift up the mantle edge and examine the 
foot and the four plate-like gills, which extend from the sides 
and top of the foot to the region of the siphons. Look care- 
fully and see the line along which the outer surface of the 
outer gill and the inner surface of the mantle meet. Find the 
palps, a pair of leaf-like organs on either side of the foot pos- 
terior to the anterior adductor muscles ; and note their at- 
tachment to the inner surface of the mantle. Remove now 
the right half of the mantle by cutting from the middle of the 
incurrent siphon along a line about one-fourth inch below and 
parallel to the place where the gills and inner face of the man- 
tle meet. At the region of the palps care should be taken to 
leave these organs intact. Continue the cut just below the an- 
terior adductor muscle and thus expose these organs of the 
mantle cavity. Trim off to a neat outline the cut edge of the 
mantle, without injuring gills or palps. Beginning with an' 
outline made by tracing with the right valve, construct a 
figure to show all of the above organs, omitting for the pres- 
ent the structure of the region above the cut edge of the man- 
tle and the outline of the cut edge itself. 



112 The Mussel 

Exercise 6. The Structure and Functions of the Gills 

(c) The structure and functions of the respiratory organs 
may now be studied. By looking into the uninjured ex-current 
siphon, the intestine, ending in the anus, will be seen on the 
posterior face of the adductor muscle. Extending beneath this 
adductor anteriorly, is a cavity into which a bristle may be 
thrust for a considerable distance. Being careful not to cut 
too deep, make an incision at the top of the outer gill near the 
middle of its length, and expose a cavity running along the top 
of this gill. By gently probing with the bristle, explore this 
cavity forward and back. How does it end in either direction ? 
With the bristle thrust in as a guide, cut in either direction 
and expose this supra-branchial cavity from the anterior end 
of the gill to its opening into the cloaca, as the region just 
within the excurrent siphon is called. Trim away the tissue 
on each side of the cut so that the whole diameter of this 
supra-branchial cavity can be seen. The upper cut edge 
should be made to pass along the lower margin of the posterior 
adductor and end above the anus ; the lower cut edge should 
pass out to where the two siphonal openings meet. The floor 
of this cavity is cut by a series of transverse partitions, inter- 
lamellar junctions, separating cavities, the water-tubes of the 
gill. If the gill is not too much shrunken, you can pass a 
bristle down any of these water-tubes to the ventral edge of 
the gill where it ends blindly. With scissors, remove a piece 
of the outer gill and cut sections at right angles to these water- 
tubes. Examine under water with a handjens. The water- 
tubes and inter-lamellar junctions will be seen cut transversely. 
It is in these water-tubes that the young of the clam begin 
their development and you may find the gill distended with 
embryos. By looking forward from beneath the posterior ad- 
ductor and gently exploring with a bristle, you can see that 
the inner gill of this side and the two gills on the other have 
each a supra-branchial cavity and water-tubes, as in the gill 
just examined. Make a diagram of this system of cavities as 
it would appear if seen from the dorsal view. 

(d) You should now understand how the water current, 



The Mussel 113 

from which the clam obtains its food and oxygen and by 
which its carbon dioxide and other wastes are carried out, 
flows through the gills. Coming in by way of the incurrent 
siphon, the water bathes the organs of the mantle cavity. 
From here it passes through microscopic openings, the ostia, 
which lead from both inner and outer surfaces of all the gills, 
into the water-tubes. Passing upwards in the water-tubes, 
it emerges in the supra-branchial cavities ; and passing back- 
ward in these, it reaches the outside through the cloaca and 
exhalent siphon. The water which passes out has been strained 
of such micro-organisms as are too large to pass through 
the ostia of the gills. These organisms upon coming in con- 
tact with the surfaces of the gills, foot or mantle are entangled 
in a slimy secretion, mucus; and carried by cilia along defi- 
nite lines which converge toward the palps. Passing between 
the inner and outer palp of either side, the food is at length 
delivered to the mouth, a slit-like opening which lies below 
the anterior adductor and between the continuation of the in- 
ner and outer palps. 

(e) Examine under the microscope a bit of tissue cut from 
the gill of a living clam and one from the mantle and make 
out the cilia on these surfaces. The ostia will be demonstrated 
in stained sections of the gill, taken in the same plane as the 
rough sections previously made with scissors. Place carmine 
or pieces of cork upon the gills or upon various parts of the 
mantle surface of a living specimen and note the result. Com- 
pare with the action of the cilia in mouth of the frog. Add 
to your previous drawing these details of the supra-branchial 
and cloacal cavities, taking care to show the cut edges where 
they occur. Put in arrows to show the course of the water cur- 
rents. Why are we justified in speaking of the mantle cavity 
as a part of the external surface of the animal, and of the gills 
and foot as "external" organs? 

IV. THE INTERNAL STRUCTURE 
Exercise 7. The Heart and Pericardium 

(a) In the region above the gills and in front of the pos- 
terior adductor is a cavity, the pericardium. Make a small 



114 The Mussel 

incision in its wall and lifting with forceps cut away the wali y 
exposing the heart, which consists of a single median ventricle, 
wrapped about the intestine; and of delicate right and left 
auricles, which lead from the sides of the pericardial cavity. 
These last can be better seen if the dissection is placed un- 
der water. The dark colored kidney will be seen underlying 
the pericardium. Add to your previous figure the pericardium 
as thus exposed and its contained organs. Show clearly the cut 
edge of its wall. 

Exercise 8. The Kidneys and Reproductive Organs 

(b) Lift up the outer gill and remove by cutting away the 
inner wall of its supra-branchial cavity. Locate the supra- 
branchial cavity of the inner gill and cut into this to expose 
its full length. The dark color of the kidney will probably 
show through the median wall of this latter cavity. Well to- 
ward the anterior end, there will be found against this dark 
area two small openings. They are not as easy to find in 
some species as in others but can usually be located. The dor- 
sal one of these openings is the external opening of the kidney, 
the ventral is the opening of the reproductive gland or geni- 
tal pore. On the other side of the foot are similar openings 
for the left side of the body. Note that the kidney thus opens 
into a cavity from which the water flows immediately to the 
outside. The eggs upon leaving the genital pore are fertilized 
by sperm which have been shed to the outside water by an 
individual of the opposite sex and entered the supra-branchial 
cavity of the female. After being fertilized the eggs pass into 
the water-tubes and there develop as far as the larval stage, 
known as the glochidium. 

(c) Beginning at the anal end, dissect the intestine away 
from its union with the upper surface of the posterior adduc- 
tor muscle. Turn the specimen up on the ventral edge of its 
shell, and look into the pericardium from above. By taking 
hold of the intestine and turning it over anteriorly, expose the 
extreme anterior end of the pericardium. Careful probing 
with a fine headed bristle should reveal the opening from the 



The Mussel 115 

pericardium into the kidney. Push the bristle posteriorly as 
far as it will go and thrust another finely tipped bristle 
through the external opening of the kidney pushing it back 
in the posterior direction. Cutting into the substance of the 
kidney will now reveal the fact that one bristle lies in an 
upper and thin-walled, the other in a dark colored and thick- 
walled cavity. Near the posterior adductor these upper and 
lower limbs of the kidney unite. 

Exercise 9. The Foot and Visceral Mass 

Using the handle of a scalpel, scrape the tissue of the kid- 
ney away from the top of the foot. Note the two posterior re- 
tractors, the ends of which have been previously observed. 
Still using the scalpel handle, free the posterior retractors 
from the adductor muscle, and cut the left one where it attaches 
to the shell. Can you see how they retract the foot ? Locate the 
anterior retractors, and the protractors of the foot. How do 
they function? Leaving the intestine intact and attached to 
the foot and visceral mass (the term applied to the softer and 
less muscular part of the body which lies above the foot), con- 
tinue using the handle of the scalpel, and break away the re- 
maining attachment of the visceral mass to the shell, being 
careful not to injure the mouth. Remove this part of the body 
from the shell leaving the anterior adductor behind. 

Exercise 10. The Digestive System 

(d) Remove the palps and any remains of mantle or gills 
from each side of the visceral mass. Using a sharp scalpel, 
split this mass and the foot as nearly into right and left 
halves as possible, leaving the free end of the intestine at- 
tached to the left half. Examine the cut surface of the left 
half under water and pinned down in a pan. The visceral 
mass is composed of a pasty substance, made up largely of the 
reproductive gland, in which coils of the digestive tract are 
embedded. Follow any of these coils which are cut by the 
section. The flattened oesophagus leads upwards to an en- 
largement, the stomach, into which the right and left halves 



116 The Mussel 

of the digestive gland open. The course of the tract should be 
examined in textbook or chart figures. 

Exercise 11. The Nervous System 

(e) Look on the ventral surface of the posterior adductor 
muscle for a yellowish body which is the fused right and left 
visceral ganglia of the nervous system. Look for nerves ex- 
tending out from this. The paired cerebral ganglia will be 
seen upon the ventro-posterior face of the anterior adductor 
muscle. In the soft tissue just above the upper margin of the 
foot and a little distance below the mouth, you will find by 
gentle scraping, if they are not already exposed, the pair of 
pedal ganglia. They are yellowish in color and of firmer tex- 
ture than the tissue in which they are embedded. Nerves will 
be found running out from them. Show in your general draw- 
ing the position of these three pairs of ganglia. Understand, 
from lectures, textbook or charts, how the three pairs of 
ganglia are united by paired connectives, and what parts of 
the body their nerves supply. 

V. THE LIFE-CYCLE OF THE MUSSEL 

Exercise 12. The Glochidium 

(a) At certain periods of the year the gills of the mussel 
function as brood-pouches and are found distended with the 
developing eggs or with the larval stage known as the Glochid- 
ium. Examine in a watchglass of water some of these glochidia 
just removed from a freshly opened mussel. Note the two 
halves of the shell, the adductor muscle between them, and 
certain fine projections, the sensory hairs, on the inner sur- 
face. Are there hooks at any point on the shell? Beyond the 
valves of the shell none of the organs of the adult are visible. 
Watch the glochidia for any movements and record nature of 
same. The egg is fertilized and develops within the parent as 
far as this larval stage which is sooner or later shed from the 
mussel, by way of the out-going water current. After reach- 



The Mussel 117 

ing the bottom the glochidia must come in contact with the fins 
or gills of a fish and fasten themselves there in order to con- 
tinue their development. After leaving the fish they have de- 
veloped all the organs of the adult in miniature and can begin 
life on the bottom. Draw the glochidium on a large scale, as 
it appears gaping open, and also from a lateral view when 
closed. The closure of all the specimens can be easily effected 
by adding a few drops of alcohol or of methyl green. 

Exercise 13. The Infection of Fish with Glochidia 

(b) Take a considerable number of living glochidia in a 
finger bowl of clean water and put into this two small fish. 
Watch how and where the glochidia attach. If the fish do not 
keep the water sufficiently agitated to prevent the glochidia 
settling to the bottom, it must be stirred gently. After five 
or ten minutes take one of the fish and put into an aquarium. 
Kill the other, without pressing upon the gills or fins, and pin 
it ventral side up in a pan of water. Remove gills, fins, and 
tail, and examine them with microscope in a watchglass. How 
and where are the glochidia attached? Draw one or more 
glochidia, attached to a gill or fin, and on such a scale as to 
make the larvae about one-half inch in diameter. Make an 
estimate of how many glochidia there are on this one fish; 
of how many were produced by the single mussel. 

(c) The fish, which was placed in the aquarium after in- 
fection, should be examined at the next laboratory period and 
the condition of the glochidia with reference to the tissue of 
the fish determined. Or fish infected 24 to 48 hours previously 
may be provided for examination on the same day as the fore- 
going. Record the condition of these glochidia and if you 
have time make figures. The glochidia of different mussels 
parasitize different fish. To carry any glochidium through its 
parasitism, it is necessary to infect a fish that will carry that 
particular glochidium. The pond mussel Lampsilis subrostrata 
and the sunperch Lepomis pallidus furnish such a combina- 
tion. In the laboratory, the glochidia remain on the perch for 
a period of from 10 to 30 days, according to the temperature, 



118 The Mussel 

and then drop to the bottom as young mussels which crawl 
actively about. They may then be seen with the eye and 
collected without difficulty. 

VI. SPECIAL STUDIES 
Exercise 14. Transverse Sections 

(a) For a review of many points brought out by the fore- 
going study, the examination of sections, cut through a speci- 
men from which the shell has been removed, is valuable. In 
sections from the region of the heart, which are perhaps more 
instructive than any others, the following structures should be 
made out and compared with the conceptions and figures 
already obtained; mantle; foot; gills; supra-branchial, mantle 
and pericardial cavities; kidney; Keber's organ; ventricle; 
auricles ; and intestine. How is the shell related to the whole ? 
How does the water pass from the mantle cavity to the supra- 
branchial cavities? Where are the water-tubes? Draw such 
a section on a large scale, labelling all the parts and showing 
the course of the water by arrows. 

Exercise 15. Further Dissection of the Nervous and 
Digestive Systems 

(b) A second specimen may be used for a review of the 
structures previously dissected and the more complete demon- 
stration of the nervous and digestive systems. Remove the 
shell and mantle, examining again any points not previously 
clear. Locate the cerebral and visceral ganglia, without cut- 
ting anything but the mantle. By careful dissection, follow 
one of the two nerves, which may be seen leading anteriorly 
from the visceral ganglia, to its union with the cerebral gang- 
lia. From these latter, three pairs of nerves arise: the pair 
of cerebro-visceral connectives, just dissected; a pair of 
mantle nerves ; and the cerebro-pedal connectives. Follow one 
of the last to its union with the pedal ganglia. Determine the 
number of nerves arising from the latter. Make a figure of 
the entire nervous system. 



The Mussel 119 

(c) This same specimen may be used for a dissection of the 
digestive tract. To do this, remove the entire animal (includ- 
ing the two adductors) from its shell and pin out under water. 
Begin at the mouth and dissect out the tract to show, oesopha- 
gus, stomach, openings of digestive glands, and coils of the 
intestine. These parts must be exposed by removing the side 
of the visceral mass which is uppermost and following each 
part of the intestine as it is found. Make a figure of the en- 
tire digestive tract. 



/ 



